


Of ink and feathers

by MyLadyDay



Series: Ink [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace/Sabo brotp, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Blow Jobs, M/M, Marco/Robin brotp, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sexual Frustration, Sexual Tension, Tattoo, bi!Marco, dog OC - Freeform, gay!Ace, tattoo artist ace, tattoo artist marco, tattoo artist robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:08:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 59,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1217125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyLadyDay/pseuds/MyLadyDay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After breaking his dominant arm, Marco is forced to take a long overdue vacation from work. A vacation that turns out to be both frustrating and amusing once he meets the guy hired as his replacement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Entire story beta'd by Aerle (unless specified otherwise on chapters)

Marco was used to having a big family and a lot of younger siblings, no matter that they weren't blood related, and with that he was used to crowded hospital waiting rooms and crying children. He was used to bitchy nurses and waiting for a doctor to look at whatever injury one of his younger siblings managed to get.

What he was not used to, however, was being the injured one. He had always been the one who took care of everyone and yet he found himself sitting in a plastic chair, wedged between an extremely obese pink haired woman munching on what looked like stale cookies, and a very guilty looking Thatch. And he should feel guilty, Marco thought, it was his damn fault for everything. Marco cradled his broken arm as gently as he could. It’s not like he’s never broken a bone or two in his lifetime, especially in his youth when they’d go out and drink too much to fathom the idiocy of partying on the roof of a two storey house. At least he had an excuse those times as opposed to being dumb enough to fall asleep with Thatch in the room, which he will never do again.

“You want some coffee?” Thatch asked with a low voice. “I’m gonna go to the Starbucks down the street to get some.”

Marco huffed, not really that angry at his brother, but still feeling like he deserved the guilt for a while longer.

“Sure, bring me a Hazelnut Frappucchino with caramel, chocolate and cinnamon.” He was trying hard not to smirk at the pained expression Thatch wore as he nodded and stood up.

“Oh, and blueberry muffins,” Marco added and almost burst out laughing at his brother’s walk of shame out of the waiting room.

With Thatch gone, he finally had some space on his right, which was great since the right arm was the broken one. After all those painkillers, it didn’t hurt anymore, but even so it wasn’t comfortable to have someone poke at it. Which is exactly what Thatch had been doing, albeit unintentionally.

Nurses were walking through the large room, occasionally calling the name of some lucky bastard that got to see the doctor and end their misery while Marco and everyone else remained there, waiting in perpetual boredom. He closed his eyes, willing himself to stay calm and not bitch at the nearest nurse for the slow pace. After all, they had announced there had been a major accident in town and only the most urgent injuries would be taken care off immediately. The situation was still frustrating; he was wasting his day, what would be the first free day of many, in a hospital with nothing to do other than stare at the ceiling, stare at a random person or try to will away the sound of munching to his left. Maybe the muffins hadn’t been such a great idea.

Someone plopped into the empty seat next to him and startled him enough to open his eyes, instinctively pulling his injured arm out of the offender’s way. Marco turned his head to the right and was met with a pair of dark eyes and an abundance of freckles way too close to his face. The sudden intrusion of his personal space made him yelp in surprise; a sound he wasn’t very proud of. It took him a moment to realize it was a man, probably younger than himself, with dark brown hair, freckles and a really contagious grin. He finally backed away from Marco’s face, still grinning, and spoke.

“Sorry for waking you,” the stranger said with an all too innocent demeanor. Marco was still observing his face, though, since it was handsome and still too close for comfort. He collected himself and cleared his throat in embarrassment; it’s been ages since someone has made him stare and stutter the way he did.

“It’s okay, wasn’t sleeping,” he mumbled, trying to unscramble his mind. It was an unfortunate time for the side effects of those painkillers to kick in, making him look like a blushing virgin for no apparent reason. Other than the guy violating his personal space, that is.

Probably sensing that he was overstepping several boundaries, the stranger pulled further back and leaned into his chair, thus giving Marco a good view of his entire appearance. Now, it was early spring; not as cold as it was just a few weeks before, but not really warm either, yet the stranger wore cargo shorts and a hoodie that could hardly be called warm enough. At least he had boots, Marco thought, since it was raining more often than not. The stranger cleared his throat and Marco realized he was staring at his crossed legs. He lifted his head guiltily, hoping he wasn’t blushing because, let’s face it, he was definitely too old to blush like a schoolgirl, and glanced at the guy’s face. He was looking at Marco, a cocky smirk on his lips and an amused look in his eyes, but he said nothing. Marco looked away, slightly embarrassed because of his weird behavior, completely missing how the stranger’s eyes roamed over his body from head to toe.

Neither spoke again and Marco drifted into a drug induced haze of weird thoughts, with the occasional lucid question of how the hell he’d work with a broken arm. Obviously, he wouldn’t. Messing up someone’s body art would not only damage his business, but the customer’s body too. Nevertheless, his schedule was full for the upcoming weeks; Robin’s was just as full and Usopp wasn’t ready to take on big projects by himself yet. He groaned to himself, frustrated how a stupid prank had done so much damage. Thatch should feel really fucking guilty for acting like a kid. With a heavy sigh, Marco concluded that he needed to find a replacement and fast. It was weird luck that this had happened on his day off, but the next day’s appointments would probably have to be cancelled.

It’s weird how you take your hands for granted when you can actually use them; he discovered this as he tried to retrieve his phone from wherever the hell he put it by only using his left hand. He could see from the corner of his eye how the stranger observed him with obvious amusement. Marco might have been amused as well had it not been for the fact that he couldn’t get the damn phone from his jacket pocket. At least he had located it, though. Well, he was too busy with thinking about an actual plan for the upcoming weeks, so the stranger didn’t matter much. Finally managing to retrieve his phone, Marco grinned in triumph before the sound of chuckling reached him. He turned to his right with a straight face and looked at the freckled man giggling, his eyes closed. Still, neither of them spoke and Marco turned back to his phone, learning in the process that using a smartphone with his left hand was also not very easy.

Instead of texting, he decided to simply call the parlor; Robin and Usopp were both there so he could at least tell someone what had happened. Scrolling through his contact list wasn’t that hard and he tapped the name as soon as he found it. The line rang twice before a female voice answered.

 _“Phoenix Tattoo, this is Robin speaking,”_ the voice said. She sounded friendly as ever.

“Hey, it’s me,” Marco said. “I broke my arm.”

 _“Right one?”_ she asked, even though she knew he wouldn’t call if it was the left one; a minor thing like that wouldn’t keep him from doing his job.

“Yeah. I’m at the hospital now,” he sighed out as there was shuffling heard from the other end; no doubt she was checking his schedule.

 _“We need a replacement,”_ she stated, coming to the same conclusion as Marco.

He nodded, even though she could not see him. “Can you handle that? I’m gonna be out of commission for a while after they finally give me a cast.”

 _“No problem. I’ll also reschedule the appointments tomorrow that neither of us can’t take over,”_ Robin told him and he could hear from her tone that she was smiling comfortingly.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll see you in a few days,” he said, relief obvious in his voice. “Bye.”

She said her goodbye and hung up, without a doubt working on resolving their problem right away. At least he could relax in that regard; he knew very well that his parlor, his life’s work, was in more than capable hands. Not only was she extremely talented with a tattoo gun, as he could confirm first hand, but she also had a knack for business and the more boring aspects of the profession.

Marco lowered the phone and began twirling it in his hand; he had dealt with the most pressing issues at hand and his mind was free to wander once again. He noted that the stranger still sat next to him, so he turned his attention to the right as much as he could without turning his head completely and outright staring at the man. The guy didn’t appear to be injured or sick nor did he seem impatient like most of the people in the room. In short, he seemed to be completely out of place. He didn’t give out an air of misery or annoyance, he simply sat there with an amused smirk, occasionally glancing at his phone. Marco, on the other hand grew bored and continued observing; might have seemed like suspicious stalker behavior, but he couldn’t be bothered by that notion. After all, it was either observing the strange freckled man or the disgusting woman on his other side and frankly, the man was far more attractive. He didn’t have to be gay to think so, either, after she had pulled out a couple of sandwiches from her purse even though there was enough food littered on her shirt to create another meal.

The stranger glanced his way occasionally, but his attention shifted far too quickly. Marco was growing more bored by the second and he suspected the painkillers were slowly wearing off. Suddenly, the need to not be bored washed over him and before he could think it through, he spoke.

“You don’t look sick or injured.”

He could have slapped himself; the painkillers had a weird effect on his common sense and usual smooth approach to people he found interesting.

The reaction he got was an amused laugh.

“That’s because I’m not.”

“You’re not what? Sick or injured?” Marco asked again, staring straight into the stranger’s dark eyes. He just laughed again and it was an honest laugh, it made Marco want to laugh along.

“Neither,” came the reply.

The answer confused Marco, probably more than it should have, but whatever, he could blame it on the pills.

“So you sit in crowded hospital waiting rooms for fun?” Marco snorted. Obviously, there were better reasons for being there and Freckles probably had one seeing as he laughed out loud as soon as the words left Marco’s mouth.

“No, I come here to hit on the nurses,” he said as his laughter died out. Marco sat in stunned silence since that was nowhere near the answer he had been expecting. Was he serious? As if to prove a point, the stranger shot out of his chair and intercepted a grumpy looking redhead nurse that had been walking their way. He looked her straight in the eyes and whispered loud enough for Marco to hear.

“I was wondering if you had a moment to spare for me to hit on you?”

His face was completely serious and the poor woman was confused for a moment before her scowl disappeared. She giggled, her blush almost reaching the dark red shade of her hair. Only then did the man smile at her, took her hand between his and, while still holding eye contact, spoke again.

“Lucky you know CPR because you take my breath away,” he grinned at the blushing nurse and she continued to giggle.

Marco was shocked; the man had absolutely no idea how to flirt with women, yet it was obviously working on the nurse. Hell, he had to admit it would work on him too. Freckles had a charm and sincerity in his grin that could make anyone crumble, but Marco’s focus was on one thing and one thing only. The nurse was busy flirting while his broken arm still needed attention. It was funny to watch the stranger use the most ridiculous pickup lines, some of them too original or funny to fathom, but his arm was still broken. Unfortunately, really, since he could listen to that ridiculous flirting all day. As Freckles continued to spout the cheesiest pickup lines ever, Marco thought about a way to get the nurse's attention and maybe make it impossible for the stranger to get a date in the end. With a sly smile, he decided on the most direct approach.

“Honey, stop flirting with every nurse you see and find me a doctor!” Marco raised his voice a bit and frowned sadly when he got the attention he wanted. “I know you wanted a change in bed, but slamming me into the headboard that hard was what got us here in the first place!” he finished with a small wave of his broken arm.

The two stared at Marco in disbelief; the nurse showed signs of shock while the stranger’s face showed a mix of awe and horror. The turn of events was unexpected for all parties involved, to say the least. The nurse shot a disgusted look in the stranger’s way and stepped away from him as he couldn’t get the confused look from his face. He was, apparently, too stunned to speak. Marco barely stopped himself from laughing at the overall confusion he caused. The nurse couldn’t form any words in what seemed like an eternity, her shocked eyes darting between Marco and the stranger that hit on her. Finally, her gaze settled on Marco’s arm. The silence was awkward and heavy; the stranger moved back to his seat and plopped into it again without muttering a single word. It would seem that Marco had hit a nerve there.

“Sorry, it took me so long, but I got your coffee,” Thatch broke the silence, seemingly appearing out of thin air. “What’s going on?” he asked once he noticed the horrified nurse and the silent stranger sitting in his spot. Marco chuckled lightly and spoke.

“This lovely nurse was just about to take me to a doctor to look at my probably broken arm before my painkillers wear off.”

This seemed to bring the nurse back to the present and she looked at him, clearing her throat.

“Yes, please come with me,” she muttered and turned back to the glass doors she came from. Marco was swiftly on his feet and following her, only turning back to tell Thatch to go home and come pick him up later. It wasn’t exactly what Thatch had wanted to hear, but he could hardly voice his objections. After all, Marco owned his ass for the time being.

Marco was led to a doctor by the still blushing nurse and seeing her red face made him wonder what was going through the stranger’s mind. His reaction certainly wasn’t what he had expected; despite the matter of flirting with a girl, Freckles wasn’t disgusted at the insinuation of him being with a man. Not like most straight men would. It certainly let his imagination run wild as he went through an X-ray and an ungodly amount of prodding for something as simple as a broken arm. He could hardly say it was fun, being poked and prodded, having to answer stupid questions and overall lose several hours of his life on crap that could have easily been avoided. After two hours of various doctors and tedious bullshit, he walked back to the waiting room through the glass doors with only a thin cast over his forearm and hand to show for his troubles. There was a flicker of something akin to hope that the freckled stranger would still be sitting in the same plastic chair, but it was extinguished almost immediately. It was too bad he didn’t even get to learn the guy’s name.

Faster than before, he retrieved his phone and dialed Thatch’s number. Somehow he had found an empty seat; there were less people than there had been before, but still more than he cared for.  Thatch answered after only two rings, sounding slightly on edge. Marco had contemplated walking home for a moment, but the vast amount of painkillers he had been dosed with for the second time made him reconsider. Thatch was compliant, didn’t complain about having to drive back to the hospital; Marco found it refreshing that there was absolutely no bitching and all the answers came in short sentences. There was no containing of his laughter any longer, it was priceless. Thatch only seemed confused at the sudden outburst, but thought it wise not to comment. Marco finished the conversation fast, knowing his ride would be at the hospital in ten minutes to pick him up so he remained seated in the waiting room. He didn’t have his jacket with him and it was getting dark and colder outside.

In all honesty, Marco wasn’t that mad at Thatch; he knew his brother well and he knew it was a silly accident. It would give him a well deserved vacation, if nothing else, something Robin has been bothering him about for months. He had rarely taken a break from the parlor in the six years he had owned the place and wasn’t very inclined to do so until it was completely necessary. A fractured arm would definitely fall into that category and he was granted with six weeks of not being able to use his right one. That could turn out problematic for his everyday life, to say the least. Some things came to mind; showers, getting dressed… Well this, as it turned out, was a bad time to be single. He could remember how helpless the younger ones were with the casts; true, he was a grown man and his cast only covered the forearm rather than the whole arm so he wouldn’t need help to an embarrassing extent. Considering the issues of taking showers and getting dressed covered, he remembered the simple fact that he could not cook properly with his hand partially incapacitated. Thankful that he rarely used his car, Marco could at least cross off driving from his list of things he wouldn’t be able to do. He would have to depend on others for that on occasion, but it probably wouldn’t differ much from the usual.

Marco was in the middle of trying to comprehend the logistics of showering without getting his right arm wet when his phone rang. He had left it in his lap so it wouldn’t be difficult to find. The caller ID showed it was Thatch calling, no doubt he was there already. Marco picked up and started walking to the exit, barely glancing back to the people still waiting.

 _“Hey, I’m here, parked across the street,”_ Thatch told him without waiting for a reply. _“In front of the fast food place,”_ he added to be more specific.

“Be there in a minute,” Marco said and hung up, not really seeing the point in saying goodbye since he was only moments from actually seeing Thatch. Just as Thatch had said, he was parked right in front of the fast food place and the car was still running. Marco walked around the car and opened the door using his right hand; he did it out of instinct, but it was nice knowing that he could at least still do some mundane things like those. Finally in the front seat, he buckled the seatbelt and felt himself doze off as Thatch started driving. Looking at the situation from a brighter side, Marco knew at least he would get some well deserved sleep. The drive seemed to be over before he could even settle down in his seat, but he didn’t complain. Thatch led him through the front doors of the building and into the elevator; Marco felt like a child being dragged around, but couldn’t find it in himself to actually care as he was simply waiting to lie down and fall asleep.

With Thatch’s help, Marco walked into his apartment and was greeted by Izo. He had known he should have expected something from the two of them, but found himself too tired to ask questions or complain. The pills were outright kicking in and both of his brothers noticed the lack of verbal complaints; all they had gotten were a few grunts and longing glances towards the bedroom door. It was late afternoon, the sun was still out to some extent, but keeping Marco awake wasn’t a feat either of them wanted to tackle. Thatch led him to the bedroom and did his best to ease him onto the bed after Marco’s attempt to simply plop down on it, broken arm be damned. He was dead to the world as soon as his head hit the pillow, leaving Thatch with nothing else to do other than remove his shoes and jeans before tucking him in like he used to do when they were younger. Despite Marco being drugged out of his mind, Thatch made sure no light could enter the room through the curtains before silently walking out to the hall and closing the door behind him.

\--0--

 a few hours earlier

It didn’t take a genius to notice how accident-prone Luffy was; Ace only wished he wasn’t always the one to take the dumbass to the ER. It was tiring, to say the least, and being on a first name basis with most doctors on call wasn’t all that exciting. Still, as annoying as it all was, it was also worrisome. It was hard for Ace not to fret about his brother, especially since he was a trouble magnet. Of course, the idiot had to do something as dumb as running with scissors even though he had been told not to do so since he had been a kid. Only adding to his misery was the accident that simply had to happen just then; Ace knew he should be grateful that Luffy didn’t somehow have a part in that, too.

He was forced to pace around the crowded waiting room seeing as leaving Luffy there alone wasn’t an option. The room was filled with all kinds of people; he had stopped to observe some of them for a bit, trying to ease his boredom and it had paid off. He was looking at a brunette man, obviously a few years older than himself, with the weirdest and at the same time most epic hairdo he had ever seen. The man must have been an angel in disguise or something because he got up from his seat the moment Ace laid his eyes on him. He was talking to another man in the seat next to his, but all Ace cared about was the empty spot he could vacate as soon as the man with the pompadour left. Just as he had thought it, the man walked away and left through the exit, leaving that little piece of heaven empty. He wasted no time in walking over and dropping his tired ass into the uncomfortable plastic chair that felt strangely heavenly. It was only then that he turned to Elvis’ companion and observed him; this one was younger, but probably still older than Ace. He was blond and had a haircut that looked strange as disheveled as it was, but not nearly as strange as the brunette’s pompadour. The guy in front of him was dozing off moments ago, leaving Ace shamelessly staring at his handsome face with an elongated nose, wide mouth with thin lips and a slight blond stubble on his jaw.

Ace was staring at the lower half of the man’s face, only looking into his eyes when the stranger turned towards him; they were the bluest eyes he had ever seen. He instinctively grinned and backed away from the stranger’s personal space that he unconsciously invaded. The apology for waking him was genuine, even when the guy claimed he hadn’t been sleeping. His demeanor was that of a stunned man and Ace could attribute his confusion to some kind of drugs he had ingested; the way he cradled his arm could only mean it was hurt, but since he wasn’t screaming in pain, he must have had some painkillers. Well, Ace concluded he should at least be grateful that Luffy’s tendency to get hurt brought him an abundance of knowledge in medicine. Still, seeing a grown man actually blush a little was something he rarely had the chance to witness. Ace was clearly making the man somewhat uncomfortable, thus deciding to lean back into his chair and shifting his left leg so the ankle rested on his right knee.

Blue eyes were still directed at him and as soon as he leaned back, they travelled down, over his body and settled on his general crotch area. Possibly on his legs, though, he admitted after the first thought of the stranger checking him out crossed his mind. Still, it was entertaining how he didn’t seem to be bothered by observing someone so thoroughly without trying to hide it. Just for the fun of it, Ace cleared his throat and smirked when the guy looked at him again. The blush might have deepened the tiniest bit as the stranger looked away, giving Ace the perfect opportunity to return the favor and check him out thoroughly. He may have done so for longer than strictly necessary, but he was pretty sure he could get away with it at the moment.

A couple of minutes or a couple of hours could have passed, but Ace wouldn’t know as he was busy observing that blond tuff of wavy hair. Clearly, it was an undercut, but it looked funny as disheveled as it was. It looked soft for some reason and Ace could barely restrain himself from reaching out and touching it when the stranger stirred. He started shuffling through his pockets and jacket as well as he could with only one working arm which looked absolutely hilarious, but he tried hard not to laugh. It was only when the stranger pulled out his phone then grinned at it with a sense of pride that Ace’s resolve cracked and he chuckled. He was graced with a look that could be interpreted as intimidating, but no words were spoken and the stranger turned his attention back to the phone. He dialed a number and pressed the phone to his ear; Ace was almost burning in anticipation of finding out something about the man next to him or at least hear him speak properly.

Boy, was it worth the wait; the stranger’s voice, deep and steady, rumbled next to him and Ace could hardly focus on what was being said. The realization that he seemed to be pining for a complete stranger who probably didn’t even share his sexual preferences hadn’t hit him yet, but it hardly mattered anyway. The extent of his luck was all too familiar to him and the chances of even seeing this guy again were slim to none. Lost in thought, Ace barely noticed the lack of talking, but having that voice directed at him snapped him out of it.

Ace hadn’t given his answers any thought and he would most likely regret saying something as stupid as he did, but he couldn’t explain why in the hell he would get up and actually hit on a nurse. Women didn't exactly strike his fancy. Still, he could hardly stop once he had started and it was becoming clear that this stupid pick up lines were working. Why that was, he couldn't fathom because he just listed stuff he'd read on one of those 'worst pick up lines ever' sites. 

“Honey, stop flirting with every nurse you see and find me a doctor!” the stranger raised his voice and Ace froze at hearing the way he was being addresses. “I know you wanted a change in bed, but slamming me into the headboard that hard was what got us here in the first place!” he finished and waved his hurt arm a bit, just to make his point, but Ace was caught staring. The guy's lips were set in the cockiest smirk Ace had ever seen, but the expression was so damn alluring that Ace couldn’t simply look away. The blond fucker was messing with him! He was, however, a bit grateful that it put a stop to the flirting with the nurse with probably less awkwardness than Ace could have managed on his own when explaining that he did not, in fact, like women. His voice rose just the tiniest bit and his lips pursed as he frowned at the apparent injustice of Ace’s actions, but his eyes told another story. His eyes held a glint of amusement, a god damn pride for the reaction he got and Ace couldn’t blame him. No answer came to mind, how could it anyway, when all Ace could focus was the image of him thrusting into the stranger hard enough to break the headboard. Utterly speechless, Ace went back to his chair and sat down; he could only watch as the still blushing nurse lead the guy away.

Well, he had to give it to the stranger, no one has managed to make him speechless like that in ages. More importantly, and Ace actually froze at the impact of the realization, straight men did not make such obvious innuendoes about screwing, much less about being screwed by other men. That just brought on more mixed emotions about the discovery; the stranger was at least bi and he would also probably never see him again. Ace was also dumb enough not to ask for a name.

“Hey, you okay?”

Ace turned to his left, into the direction of the stranger’s chair and was met with a concerned face. The brunette pompadour was easily recognizable and he immediately knew it was the stranger’s friend. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Ace replied and ran a hand through his hair. The pompadour guy grinned at him before getting up from his chair. “I don’t know what happened before I got here, but you looked pretty pale there,” the man said. “Hope you get better,” he added and left with a small wave goodbye. Ace was reduced to such a stuttering mess, he had yet to realize he had missed yet another chance to find out the blond’s name.

Ace barely stopped himself from face palming once he figured out how big of an idiot he was. He reconciled with having to live with that fact and leaned back in his chair. 


	2. Chapter 2

His surroundings were dark and silent; he knew even without opening his eyes. Marco could feel the remnants of all the painkillers he was dosed with… yesterday? Finally opening his eyes to check what time it was, he was met with complete darkness as he expected. He reached out to the nightstand with his right arm, almost forgetting that it was broken and painful. Luckily, he was reminded of the fact as his hand slammed onto the wooden surface. A curse left his mouth at the jolt of pain going through his arm, managing only to grit his teeth until the pain subsided. He rolled over onto his back, careful with his arm this time and reached for his phone again, this time with the healthy hand.

Before he could even check how long he had been sleeping, a sound from somewhere in the apartment reached his ears. Usually, he would probably investigate right away, but he could hardly keep his eyes open. Sleep was sounding like a really good idea to him, his eyes were slowly closing as he sunk into the comfy mattress, the sheets were feeling really soft… When had he taken off his pants? Well, it didn't matter. Sleep was just around the corner… Another loud clatter, from the kitchen probably, startled him and even sleepy as he was, Marco knew he should get up. He groaned before mustering all his strength and sitting up in the dark.

It was his room, he was sure about it even without seeing anything; thus the noise from the kitchen meant he had at least one brother roaming his apartment and that was cause enough for getting up. His bare feet touched the floor as he propped himself with his healthy arm, thinking about what inconvenience was waiting for him next.

Stumbling through the dark room, Marco managed to get to the door without bumping into anything on the way. It was hardly a long walk, but he still couldn't help but feel accomplished that he managed it in the dark while still as groggy as he was from the drugs. The light hit him head on as soon as he opened the bedroom door and he had to squint, his eyes tearing up. It just wasn't feeling like a good day to him. Still, his eyes adjusted and he walked down the hall, following the sounds of a ruckus from his kitchen. He was just around the corner when the smell of food joined the equation and Marco realized how hungry he actually was.

Never before had he been as happy to see a humming Izo dancing around his kitchen.

"I asked you not to do that in my kitchen," Marco said with a tired voice, but his lips still curved upward just the tiniest bit.

Izo jumped at the sound, the spatula he had been holding falling to the floor in the process. He scowled at Marco, but made no move towards him. Marco took his spot at the kitchen island, gently placing the cast on it.

"I thought you'd wake up way sooner," Izo said while scooping up some bacon and eggs onto a clean plate. "Thatch just left an hour ago," he added before walking over to Marco and placed the food in front of him. Marco was already eating by the time Izo brought a glass of orange juice and two small pills.

"How long did I sleep?" he asked between bites. Izo might have had weird habits that tended to mostly come to light of day in Marco's kitchen, but he could damn well cook like a pro.

"Fourteen hours. I was bored already," Izo replied, his voice laced with a dramatic overtone. "So, how are you feeling?" he asked, sitting down next to Marco.

"Fine, I guess. Still a bit dazed from the pills."

"Does your arm hurt? 'Cause you're suppose to take those two pills today after you eat, remember," Izo said, directing the sternest scowl he could muster in Marco's direction.

"I know,  _mom_ ," Marco said with a roll of his eyes and earned himself an unimpressed scowl from Izo. "I should call Robin before I pass out again, though."

Izo's face immediately softened and he jumped up from his chair.

"She called and left you a message! I almost forgot," he spoke as he picked up the empty plate and lowered a piece of paper in its spot. "She said she would be busy with both your appointments so she wouldn't call again," Izo added and went to the sink with the dirty plate.

The paper belonged to the pad he kept by the phone for years already and had used it probably twice in all that time, but the handwriting was far more extravagant and completely Izo. The message simply read that Robin found a replacement; he would start work the next day. Marco was far from surprised, after all Robin was known for being extremely capable at everything he threw at her, but this was still impressive. The note also stated the replacements name, but he simply skimmed through the information knowing he'd see Robin before work the next day and get all the information he needed.

Izo was just done with the few dirty dishes and he turned to Marco.

"If you're done, take your pills and go back to bed," he said and Marco couldn't find it in himself to disobey that command, knowing full well how much Izo cared for him. He threw the pills into his mouth without so much as looking at them and downed the juice in one go before getting up.

"You staying here?" he asked.

"I'll stay here until Thatch comes back from work. He'll stay until tomorrow and you can work something out with him," Izo said and wished him a good night as Marco walked down the hall to his bedroom. He found himself in complete darkness once again; he wasn't sleepy yet so he opted for lifting the blinds and reading something until he was tired again.

Marco already knew he'd be sick of the cast in no time.

\--0--

For the first time in years, Marco felt completely rested; he had slept through two nights in a row, and no matter that it was probably thanks to the pills, it was still an achievement he hadn't accomplished in far too long. The sun had yet to rise, but he was wide awake lying in bed, simply contemplating how on earth he would take a shower. He was in the middle of trying to remember how Haruta washed himself with a sprained wrist when his alarm went off. Even after sleeping through his day off, Marco was already bored out of his mind, not to mention how interested he was in the replacement that Robin found. After all, that person would do his work for six weeks and it could have an impact on his reputation as well as the reputation of his parlor.

As much as he wanted to stay in bed for a change, Marco knew he couldn't actually do that and managed to sit up in bed, his feet hitting the floor in a matter of seconds. He walked to the thermostat and turned on the heat before going to the kitchen. While making coffee, he was hit by a wave of sheer brilliance; he rummaged through the drawers until he found a plastic bag big enough to cover his cast.

"What the hell are you doing at this time of night?!" an agitated voice sounded from behind him and he turned around. A sleepy Thatch with his hair down wearing nothing but red boxers was a sight Marco wouldn't wish upon even his greatest enemy. If he had one, anyway.

"It's morning and I'm trying to get ready for work," Marco replied as he went back to thinking of how the hell he would put that bag on his arm and keep it there.

"You look like a serial killer trying to protect his clothes from blood splatter. What the hell are you doing with that bag?" Thatch asked with all the curiosity as he could muster in his grumpy and half asleep state.

"I'm trying to put it over my cast so it doesn't get wet in the shower," Marco replied, starting to get annoyed a bit by his lack of success. He was startled as Thatch yanked the bag from his hands and slid it over the cast with far more success, fastening it around Marco's elbow.

"There, go shower and let me sleep," he grumbled before slinking off to the living room; Marco could hear him plop on the couch and sigh in relief. He chuckled for a moment before making his way to the bathroom, the rustling of the bag on his arm sounding through the apartment. In theory, his idea was flawless; he would shower with his arm covered and everything would be great. Piece of cake. In practice, it was a bit different than he hoped for.

Marco stood under the spray of the shower, completely wet except for his right arm, which was lucky. He did not, however, think about how he would wash his hair or anything else with one hand wrapped in plastic. It might have been the first time he was grateful for not having a full head of hair. Things weren't going according to his plan as he learned just how useless his left hand was; after squirting too much shampoo on his head, he would probably be surrounded by the smell of coconut wherever he went.

After what was most likely the longest shower he had ever taken, including those showers when he was a teen and puberty had just hit full strength, Marco managed to walk out of the bathroom with clean hair and a dry cast. Getting dressed didn't even cross his mind until he stood horrified in front of his closet. Anything with buttons wasn't an option, which was great since he never really wore those anyway, so he turned to the shelf that held cotton T-shirts and henleys he usually wore. Well, he wouldn't be working anyway. With that depressing thought in mind, Marco started on the task of pulling on a long sleeved shirt over the cast. It was hardly a fun experience and having to repeat it daily for six weeks would be the death of him or his sanity, at any rate. Buttoning his pants wasn't easy either, but he managed eventually. What could he have done, anyway? Asked for Thatch's help? That would be a big hit to his pride and he did have limits.

Happy that he woke up earlier than needed, he still had time for coffee before he would have to get Thatch awake and into a car to drive him to work. He returned to the kitchen quietly, opting for preparing the coffee for Thatch before waking him because he was in no way a morning person. Feeling the urge for revenge, Marco left both cups of coffee in the kitchen and sneaked into the living room. He tip toed past the couch and went straight for his desk where he knew he'd find what he needed. As silently as possible, he opened the top drawer and grinned in triumph. On top of a stack of papers was the black plastic spider he confiscated from Usopp a while back after he'd left it on Marco's tattoo chair to scare a friend that happened to have an appointment. Scaring customers wasn't good for business so Marco took the toy and punished Usopp with front desk and cleaning duty for a month with a ban on using the tattoo gun. Usopp learned his lesson and Marco got to keep the spider that he would finally put to good use.

Retrieving the toy from the drawer, he returned to the back of the couch and contained his laughter. Gently, he placed the plastic on Thatch's arm and allowed himself an excited chuckle before proceeding. He tapped his brother's forehead and listened to the grumbling before his eyes opened slowly.

"You have a spider on your arm," Marco said with a feigned distressed voice.

The effect was immediate; Thatch's eyes opened wide as he screamed like a little girl that hated spiders with a passion, his arm twitching and throwing the spider into the mess of blankets covering him. Marco held back as he watched the excessive flailing on the couch as Thatch tried to throw the blanket off, falling off the couch as a result instead. Thatch crawled as far away from the couch as possible with eyes still wide in horror, breathing heavily. He looked towards Marco and scowled as he noticed the look on his face.

Marco was barely keeping himself from laughing as Thatch still sat on the floor, a complete grasp on the situation lost on him.

"Get dressed. There's coffee in the kitchen and then you gotta take me to work," Marco said and finally broke down, his laughter ringing through the apartment. Thatch's scowl deepened as Marco retreated from the room, disappearing in the kitchen.

Thatch was still grumpy as they climbed into the car. He hadn't uttered a word since he got off the floor of Marco's living room. They drove in silence until a well known blue sign appeared before them and Thatch started laughing.

"I can't believe you scared me like that," he said trying to catch his breath. "We're even now, though," he added as he glanced into Marco's direction. Marco joined in on the laughter, nodding in agreement. He wasn't  _that_  mad at his brother for the broken arm, after all. They stopped just outside the parlor and Marco said goodbye to Thatch as he got out of the car, feeling content to be at work. Unlocking the front door, he figured he had around five to ten minutes before Robin appeared as she always did. Hence, he didn't expect her to appear from their shared office to greet him.

"Morning," she said with a smile. "I was just making tea."

"Morning. You're here early," he said as they walked to the office together.

"Well, I am in charge now that you're… incapacitated," Robin replied and offered a sympathetic smile as she glanced at his injured arm.

"So, tell me about my replacement," he changed the subject, hoping he wouldn't have to talk about his arm that much.

"Very well," she said and walked to her desk to take a few papers before offering them to Marco. "He's co-owner of St. Elmo's Fire with his brother and his name is Ace."

Marco cut her off before she could continue. "St. Elmo's Fire? Didn't that place close or something?"

"Ironically," she started, but interrupted herself with a morbid chuckle Marco knew too well, "It burned down."

Marco stared at her in disbelief; that place had a pretty good reputation considering it hadn't been in business for very long and the two artists working there were supposedly pretty skilled.

"The place is being rebuilt so working here for six weeks is perfect for him," Robin interrupted his thoughts. "I think he was the best candidate."

He nodded, completely trusting her judgment. All he had to do was meet the man, really, he thought as he went through his filled out application and a few examples of his work. It was really good, actually, and Marco was relieved that they managed to get someone this skilled on such short notice. The part about the replacement's parlor burning down, however, wasn't in the realm of good news. Marco was hardly superstitious, but it would be immensely unlucky if something like that were happen to his pride and joy as well.

Robin served them both a cup of tea like she did every morning for four years already; it was a tradition they started as soon as she became his partner. They had fifteen minutes in the shop before Usopp and, hopefully, the replacement showed up to finally open for the day. Marco sighed, knowing he would spend six weeks dealing only with paperwork, supply orders and taking appointments. It was frustrating, to say the least, to be demoted to apprentice duties. Last time he was an apprentice was when he'd been eighteen. He was definitely too old for that.

"Well, I'll leave you now." Robin stood from her chair. "I should start cleaning up, Usopp's going to be here in a few minutes." With that she left the office. Usopp peeked in only minutes later, wishing him a good morning before joining Robin. With nothing else to do, Marco started filling out some supply orders with an intention of doing inventory later as well. Boring inventory. He let his head fall to the desk with a thud. He was already bored and annoyed by his cast, but mostly by his inability to do the things he usually took for granted.

He was wallowing in self-pity when he heard Usopp speak in his usual joyful manner.

"Oh hey, you're here," he said excitedly. "Robin and I cleaned up already, so you can go ahead and meet Marco before I give you your appointment schedule."

"Sure. Where do I go?" another voice asked and Marco sighed, knowing Usopp was most likely showing the new guy where to go so he would have to sit in a more dignified position. "Thanks," the voice replied and Marco finally lifted his head, waiting for the newcomer. He refrained from staring at the door, deciding to turn on his laptop instead.

There was a light knock on the door. "Hi, I'm Ace…" the voice trailed off and Marco finally lifted his head. He was being stared at by a pair of familiar dark eyes and a face full of freckles. No words came to mind as the stranger he met only two days ago stood in front of him, equally stunned. Marco never actually believed in coincidences, but the current situation was simply unbelievable. The chances of the odd stranger from the hospital being a tattoo artist should have been highly unlikely, but the chances of him applying as Marco's substitute should have been downright impossible.

Realizing he was staring for what could have theoretically been a minute too long, Marco cleared his throat, hoping really hard that he wasn't blushing or something like that. Robin would never let him live that down. He stood up and considered offering his hand to properly introduce himself before he realized he wouldn't be able to shake hands, thus adding another thing he took for granted before.

"I'm Marco," he said and as he watched Ace smile, he remembered the full extent of incident from the hospital. The memory brought a grin to his face, the embarrassing surprise replaced by the same urge to mess with this man coming over him. "I'll be your boss," he added and observed carefully as the truth of the fact dawned on his new employee. Marco could already see how the blushing of that freckled face might improve what could have been six weeks from hell.

\--0--

As per usual, Ace woke up to a mouth full of fur and crappy music playing somewhere in the apartment. Most likely the kitchen as he heard his brother yell.

"Ace, get your ass out of bed! You have work today!"

He sighed, inhaling some more fur before he sat up in the bed, glancing at the dog sleeping on his pillow. The corgi stirred and opened his eyes, looking completely innocent and remorseless; after all, the pillow was more his than Ace's considering he sneaked onto it every night and pushed Ace's head off. He glared at man's supposed best friend, but still stroked his belly affectionately. He got up and put some pants on, following their usual morning routine of taking Garpie out for a walk while Sabo made breakfast.

The dog was ready to go as soon as he saw his red leash came into view. Ace couldn't help but smile as they left the building together for a walk around the block.

A plate of French toast was waiting for him on the table when they got back, a cup of coffee resting close by as Sabo sat in his spot, reading the newspaper like an old man. Honestly, all he needed was a monocle and a top hat to complete the look. Ace sat down and wolfed down his breakfast while Sabo observed him with annoyance.

"I hope you're not gonna act like that at work," he said, passing a piece of his toast to the dog.

"Don't feed him that! He'll get sick," Ace objected, completely ignoring the comment directed at him. He already knew how to behave in front of people, he wasn't like Luffy.

"The Admiral doesn't get sick, Ace," Sabo replied with seriousness, but only managed to hold it for a few moments before laughing. They were both aware that naming a dog, a corgi to boot, after their grandfather wasn't the best idea they ever had. Though, to be fair, it wasn't the worst either.

"Anyway," Sabo started, "try not to get fired right away. We need the money."

"I'm not gonna get fired on the first day," Ace rolled his eyes. He knew they needed the money to pay for the work on their own place, but he was more thrilled about the fact he would work for probably the most famous artist in the city. The owner of the Phoenix and his partner had a reputation for the highest quality work, but also for rarely taking on an apprentice or new employees. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for him and he suspected Sabo was simply jealous; after all, he had to work as a bartender for the time being.

"They chose me for the job, I'm not gonna blow it," he said. "What about him while we're both out, though?" he asked, pointing at Garpie. The dog was sitting on the floor, looking at him like he hadn't slept on his face yet again.

"I'm not going to work before six, you should be back by then," Sabo replied with a shake of his head. "I'm taking him to the park, though, so I'll walk to work with you. We should get going in ten minutes, you know," he added like the know-it-all he in fact was, making Ace turn to the clock and almost shriek. He had promised he'd come by earlier to meet the boss and help clean up, set up everything and all that. It wouldn't be an easy task, but he would manage a quick shower in the time he had.

"I'm gonna take a shower," he said as he ran out of the room, tripping on the "damn dog" in the process.

Sabo actually looked impressed; Ace stood before him, showered and dressed with a minute to spare. He also went to the trouble of dressing decently for once, going for a pair of black jeans and a red sweater he usually absolutely refused to wear. Sabo didn't comment, however, knowing it would prompt Ace to scowl and change into one of his usual less than professional shirts.

Ace was hardly a morning person, but he was actually excited for once as the three of them walked through town. The walk wasn't long, but he was feeling too jittery to walk normally. Even the dog looked at him funny, not to mention the other people on the street avoided them with strange looks on their faces. None of that registered with Ace, however.

They reached their destination sooner than he had expected and Ace barely contained an undignified squeal that was building in his chest. These people were professionals, he reminded himself, and it wouldn't do him no good to embarrass himself on the first day.

"Try not to burn the place down," Sabo told him, knowing without a doubt how excited Ace must be. Ace didn't say anything, only scratched Garp's chin before glaring at Sabo and entering the parlor.

He had been there only the day before, meeting Robin and Usopp, the only people that worked in the place save for the owner. They were different from what he had expected, but he was pleasantly surprised because they were really nice. He was sure he'd get attached to the place in the short time he'd spent there.

"Oh hey, you're here," Usopp greeted him excitedly. "Robin and I cleaned up already, so you can go ahead and meet Marco before I give you your appointment schedule," he said, looking like he'd rather talk than mop up the floor.

"Sure. Where do I go?" Ace asked despite knowing the place held one office and two separate tattooing rooms which probably meant he should go to the office. As he had been expecting, Usopp pointed to the office with the open door and smiled at him.

"Thanks," Ace said and walked to the door, suddenly feeling like he was being sent to the principal's office. He knocked on the open door lightly, just to alert the person inside, and introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Ace…" he started, but froze when his eyes fell on a familiar blond tuff of hair, despite it being combed this time, and a face he was trying to forget for two days. His stranger from the hospital looked at him from behind his desk and seemed to freeze as well. Ace was well aware that they were openly staring at each other in obvious shock, but he couldn't make himself speak after having the guy's words from the other day play through his head.

He clearing his throat, startling Ace from his thoughts. The owner stood and looked like he was about to shake his hand, but didn't in the end. Ace noticed the cast and recognized the reason for actually hiring him in the first place.

"I'm Marco," he said and Ace couldn't help but smile. He had finally learned the stranger's name, something he deemed impossible only hours ago. Ace watched as Marco's face turned from one of confusion into a wide grin and he felt excitement rush through him stronger than it had before.

"I'll be your boss," he added and Ace realized, a bit belatedly, that it was in fact true. He could feel his cheeks heat up as he probably blushed, a mix of indecent images and thoughts of how bad that was invading his mind.

His employment would either be a really good experience or a really frustrating one. Either way, it was very different from what he had hoped for when he woke up earlier that morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by Anjelle

It had been a week already and Ace wasn't above marking the days until the torment was over. The job was amazing, yes, but he couldn't look at his boss anymore. All attractiveness aside, the guy was an ass. Not so much an actual ass, but he had a way with words that left Ace blushing while trying to put together a coherent sentence and not look like a complete moron. So far, he had been painfully unsuccessful and that, aside from the actual looking like a moron part, was a heavy blow to his usual smooth talking self. All in all, he was acting like he was a flustered teen all over again and it annoyed the hell out of him.

What Ace really needed and wanted was something that would put him and Marco on common ground. Still, that was easier said than done since Marco somehow managed to display the behavior of a five **-** year-old child yet still kept an air of mystery around himself. While extremely amused by the unusual situation, Robin stayed out of it all and refused to conspire against her partner while Usopp just couldn't get past his inner chicken; he was too afraid to reveal anything about his boss for fear his apprenticeship would be terminated. All jabs of sexual and non-sexual nature aside, Ace saw what kind of boss Marco was and he could tell he regarded Usopp as a little brother. Usopp knew it damn well, too, so the fact remained that he was a coward.

That left Ace with nothing but the option to man up and woo the hell out of his boss. Calling Marco 'boss' had a weird effect on him, though, and he found himself half drooling at the images his mind conjured by itself. That wouldn't do, he knew, as he shook his head and directed his attention back to the food in front of him. His break would be over really soon and he still needed to walk back to the parlor. Glancing at the clock, Ace noticed he had just under half an hour left so he stuffed the remainder of his food into his mouth, save for a spoonful or two that he put aside for the Admiral. The little guy had a face so adorable, even Ace couldn't resist it.

Not wanting to invoke any more of Sabo's wrath, Ace washed his dishes before fleeing the apartment. He may have been running a bit late, but hey, at least he wasn't thinking about Marco again because that was getting frustrating. He wasn't completely sure why, exactly, he'd been made the object of Marco's amusement, no matter how funny he actually was, which only brought him to his original problem of being damn speechless in front of the man. It may have been related to the fact that Ace was usually the amusing one in pursuit of the person he was interested in, that made him stop dead in his tracks. Was Marco interested in him? That would certainly be worth his while... If he ever managed to get past his whole not-managing-to-talk-in-front-of-the-man thing, that is.

The whole flustered routine was starting to annoy him to no end. Still, he pushed his frustrations aside, again, and hurried back to work. He still considered himself responsible enough not to be late. That was something Sabo loved reminding him of. He was, supposedly, a responsible adult and he had to go to work and he wasn't allowed to burn random stuff. It was so boring, which he couldn't really say for his current workplace.

A fact that he was immediately reminded of as soon as he opened the shop door.

"I specifically requested Marco!" Ace heard before he even stepped into the front room of the parlor and laid eyes on a frightened **-** looking Usopp sitting behind the front desk and the woman yelling at him.

"Bu...but I... he broke..." Usopp stammered at the woman and Ace could honestly not blame him because she was a force to be reckoned with.

"Hancock, how can I help you?" he questioned, saving Usopp from an impending heart attack. They both turned to him and if gratitude had a face, it would be the one Usopp wore as he stared at him.

"Ace," she stated with a tone showing recognition, but hardly any semblance of friendliness. "Didn't expect to see you here," she said and continued before he could open his mouth. "I have an appointment with Marco and your secretary claims he is not here," she finished with a glance sideways towards a relieved-looking Usopp.

"Marco broke his arm," Ace informed her and smiled politely. "I am, however, his replacement so I will take your appointment, if that is okay with you."

She seemed to asses him, like she had done in the past, before nodding in agreement. "Very well. Your brother does speak highly of your skills," she said with a softer tone, one she used whenever Luffy was mentioned. She turned immediately and made her way towards Marco's work room, the one Ace had been using the past week. Well, he was used to Hancock being bossy to anyone except his baby brother so it didn't really come as a surprise. She did seem to know where she was going, though, making him conclude that it wasn't her first time there.

It was a magnificent moment indeed when it clicked in his mind: she probably knew Marco! Maybe she could share something. It would help his situation immensely at that point. Any kind of information would, really, seeing as he was at the end of a very short rope. Swiftly, with a renewed bounce in his step, Ace followed after her and closed the door. She was already sitting on the chair in the middle of the room, reserved for the customers.

He put down his things and sat down in front of her on his own chair. "So, what are we doing today?" he asked, waiting for her to share the design she wanted. All personality traits aside, she knew what she wanted and Ace could appreciate that, when it had nothing to do with his little brother, at least. As expected, she pulled out a piece of paper with an intricate design resembling a pirate jolly roger joined with Medusa's head. The motif itself was simple, but Ace found himself stunned with the detailed work. Every single snake was covered in a fine pattern of scales, all of them similar but not quite the same while the skull in the middle was made out of tightly knit scales in a combination of black and dark purple.

"Yes, yes, Marco's work is exceptional," Hancock interrupted his silent admiration. "Can we get on with it?"

Ace cleared his throat and set the paper on the little table with supplies, getting up to get a set of gloves before starting work. He really should have known art it was.

"Where do you want the tattoo?" he asked as he turned, surprised to find her naked back turned to him.

"Between my shoulder blades," she answered without looking at him.

Well, okay. Not like she was the loveliest lady alive anyway. He sat back on his chair, instructing her to lean on the back of the seat with her front and hook her arms around the chair. It was really lucky for him the design was already on transfer paper; he cringed at the thought of tracing all that detail twice. He traced a circle between her shoulder blades with his finger.

"Here?" he asked, the paper ready in his other hand. She nodded and he carefully applied a thin layer of vaseline then placed the paper perfectly in the middle where she had approved, dragging the palm of his hand over it to transfer the design onto her skin. Pulling the paper away, he moved back and observed it for a moment. The slightly morbid motif actually fit perfectly.

"Okay, I'm gonna start now. If there's anything wrong, tell me and I'll stop," he said and sat back on his chair, dragging his table with the gun and inks closer. She'd maybe have to come back another time for the purple ink because this was too much work for such a small time slot, but Ace decided to skip that bit of information until he got something interesting out of her.

The buzzing of the tattoo gun was quiet, almost melodic to Ace even if it reminded people of a dentist's drill most of the time. The first touch of the needle to her skin was careful. Most people jolted at the unusual and slightly painful sensation, but she remained completely still. It continued like that as he inked the skull, working in silence with only the faint buzzing keeping him company. The snakes would take a bit longer to finish with all the tiny scales, but it was going pretty fast nonetheless and he was losing valuable time. He was trying to think of a way to breach the subject, but nothing came to mind except the direct approach.

After twenty minutes that, honestly, felt like hours to Ace, he finally decided to just go for it. Nothing to lose, right?

"So, how do you know Marco?" he asked, subtly lifting the needle from her skin in case she moved unintentionally. Of course, she didn't.

"We dated for a while," she replied with nonchalance, almost causing him to stab her because of the shock the words caused. "But it didn't work out seeing as I could never love him like I love Luffy," she added with a sigh, but Ace was hardly listening to that. After all, he had heard it one too many times before. He was more interested in the part where his boss, the one flinging sexual innuendos at him more often than not, had dated Hancock. Not a regular woman, no, it had to be Hancock, probably the only woman in the city that had a reputation of hating men by default. Well, men that weren't Luffy, in any case.

Clearing his throat to at least try and get his mind on track, Ace continued to work as he prepared the next question.

"How long is a while?" he asked, praying she wouldn't get pissed at his curiosity. He was, after all, pretty much walking on thin ice with her.

"Just four or five months," she replied dismissively. Just four or five months? How is that 'just'? Okay, that was beside the point. The point was that Marco liked women for sure. He had yet to obtain evidence he liked guys too, which was, basically, what he was interested in. Aside from any innocent and embarrassing details that could help him out. Oh how he wished he had a knack for subtlety like Sabo. It would make his task a lot easier. Was there even a subtle way of asking someone if their ex is into both sexes?

"Ah, another man's heart was broken, then?" he asked as he once again focused on the work of art he was inking onto a pretty flawless back. That would suck though, if Marco's heart was indeed broken and he was just looking for a rebound thing.

"Oh he was hardly heartbroken; you're more his type than I was," she snapped at him before back stiffened.

"What?" Ace asked, his eyes wide and his mind trying to decide if he had heard her right.

"What?" she asked in reply, sounding as confused as he was.

They seemed to be at an impasse as she clearly didn't want to repeat what she had said, if she even said it, and Ace was sure she did with each passing second, if her dodgy behavior was anything to go by. He did get really valuable information out of her, so he didn't press for more. At least not yet. He focused on the tattoo once more, finally done with the black ink of the skull. The snakes and their small details needed his complete and utter focus; he was a professional, after all, doing his job right always came first. Especially if he worked for someone like Marco, whose reputation could only be harmed by Ace's sloppy work.

The delicate needle moved across the pale marks left by the tracing paper, creating small scales and forming them into a snake. The work was going faster than he had imagined once the tattoo had his undivided attention, but it was still slow work. Still, with one snake done and eight more to go, Ace got restless again. He really wanted to learn something that would give him insight into who Marco was beyond the man he saw at work. Sure, getting to tease him was a bonus, but he could most likely live without it. In a final attempt at getting something out of Hancock, Ace pulled out the big guns.

"If you tell me about Marco, I'll answer any question you have about Luffy," he offered in a small voice, hoping a bit that maybe she wouldn't hear him. But of course she did when Luffy's name was mentioned. Ace was considering himself lucky that she never asked any important questions about his brother.

\--0--

"You guys are late," Usopp said disapprovingly, almost like a mother scolding her children. "Your lunch breaks were over over half an hour ago."

Marco and Robin chuckled before Robin spoke.

"We do own the place, Usopp," she said with a smile. "Besides, he does nothing but read all day anyway and I don't have an appointment until..." she paused, glancing at the door that opened mere seconds later, just to finish her sentence, "right now." Her usual smile graced her face as she welcomed the big blue-haired man before leading him to the other tattooing area, thus leaving Marco and Usopp alone.

"Is Ace late too?" Marco asked, completely at a loss of what he was supposed to do now that Robin had to work. Having a broken arm was growing more annoying each day and it hadn't even been that long yet.

"Nah, he's been in his room with a customer for a while now," Usopp said absentmindedly, his eyes already on the pages of some book laid out in front of him until his head snapped up with his eyes wide. "Oh my god, maybe she killed him!" he exclaimed and Marco could do nothing more than stare at Usopp in confusion. Even if it shouldn't confuse him anymore, Usopp had his overdramatic moments every once in a while.

"Why would someone kill Ace?" he asked even if he already knew there would be a really dramatic answer.

"Well, the lady was really scary," Usopp started his tale. "Of course, I wasn't afraid of her, but she was yelling and demanding to see you because you took her appointment. But Ace swooped in like a brave warrior and challenged her head on!" he exclaimed with pride, tears almost glistening in his eyes. Marco could hardly say he wasn't interested in who this mystery person was, but he couldn't shake a bad feeling blossoming in his chest.

"She looked that scary, huh?" he asked before Usopp had a chance to start another monologue.

"No, actually she was really pretty," he said. "But she was just scary, I don't know."

Marco was really interested, feeling like he should know who it was, but for some reason he couldn't remember. The feeling was intensifying and he did not like it one bit. It was a feeling he usually got when something bad was about to happen, yet not early enough for him to actually do something to stop it. Which was inconvenient, to say the least.

"Usopp, show me the appointment schedule," Marco demanded, hoping nothing too bad was happening. Though, no one would actually kill Ace, right? Maybe he would, if he continued to mess with Ace like he was doing, but that was beside the point. Meanwhile, Usopp opened the desired document and turned the computer screen just enough to allow Marco to see without having to move behind the desk.

To say he wasn't thrilled with what he saw would be a major understatement. He rarely enjoyed Hancock's company on a good day, but having her alone in a room with Ace was the stuff nightmares were made of. He may not have dated her for long, still fairly confused as to why it even happened in the first place, but the woman still knew some of his less-than-appropriate secrets.

 _Fuck fuck fuck._  She wouldn't share anything, would she? Hancock was the last person to do anything for a man so his secrets, no matter how minor, were safe with her. That was all nice and everything, but he still could not shake the god-awful feeling that she would be his doom. Oh great, he was also sounding as dramatic as Usopp.

He made his way across the room in a flash, confusing Usopp once again, before he was in front of the door that could hide his demise and, after ignoring his dramatics, burst into the tattoo room hoping nothing of importance happened.

As expected, Hancock was on the white leather chair with her back exposed to Ace who held the tattoo gun just above the surface of her skin. They were both staring at him wide **-** eyed, which was a fairly normal reaction to his magnificent entrance, but what alarmed him was the bout of laughter he had heard only a moment before opening the door. That was, in no way, good for him. Hancock did not laugh very often and when she did, it was mostly to signal another bad fate decided for some poor soul. The poor soul being him, this time, most likely.

Ace's face was slowly morphing from confusion into a sinister grin and Marco felt more screwed than ever before. It really wasn't a nice feeling. The smug bastard was planning something, he was certain of it, and the moment of regret for messing with him rather than just flirting was upon him. There was not a doubt in Marco's mind that Ace would make him pay for every single thinly-veiled sexual innuendo he had used in the past week.

"Did you need something, Marco?" Ace asked and Marco could swear his name was practically purred out. Oh he was so screwed and there were still five more weeks left. Funny how the tables can turn in a heartbeat.

"I wanted to say 'hi' to Hancock," Marco said, patting himself on the back for managing a straight voice. "I haven't had the opportunity to tell her I wasn't working." He was still standing by the door, his hand gripping the handle and if he squeezed a bit harder, the thing would probably break. Or his hand would suffer, which was an even worse option, so he finally managed to loosen his grip.

"Though, seeing as you're still not done, I'll let you work," he added before either of them could speak and left the room, aware that his little explanation probably fooled no one. Usopp was still looking at him with confusion, but Marco ignored it in favor of retreating to his office and closing the door behind him to ward off curious apprentices.

He sat down behind his desk, leaning into the chair with a sigh, as he tried to remember what Hancock knew about him. Seeing as she seemed friendly enough with Ace, Marco could assume nothing from their so-called relationship was sacred and he should prepare for the worst. If only he knew what the worst could be. He could honestly not remember anything: nicknames she used to call him, things they did in bed or even what the hell they talked about. Really, how the hell did all of that even happen? There was certainly no attraction to speak of between them, especially since they broke up. So why would Ace direct such a sinister-looking grin in his direction? He obviously knew something, but the actual secret eluded him. For heaven's sake, he couldn't even remember if he ever wore embarrassing underwear in front of her. If it was that, though, he could use it to his advantage; Ace had an adorable habit of getting flustered when Marco joked with him and it was probably the sole reason he hadn't stopped doing it yet. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get a reaction like the one from the hospital, but they were all enticing.

Marco was acting like a ten-year **-** old boy in love because he was, for all intents and purposes, pulling on Ace's pigtails. Which was a disturbing thought for a man his age and the fact that pulling on someone's pigtails as a sign of affection wasn't very nice. Well, he could stop and actually show he was interested in Ace romantically. Or he could wait and see what Ace had in store for him, which was an idea that held a prospect of fun to counter his boredom. Who was he to miss out on a bit of fun? He did a lot to fluster Ace in the short course of a single week which did entitle Ace for a fair share of revenge. He could live with almost anything as long as his brothers didn't catch drift of there being someone interesting in Marco's life. They would jump on it like a dog on a bone and would be most likely to hold on until said person was too scared to date him or, and he wasn't sure if this was a better option, the person proved to be crazy enough to join the family. Marco wasn't keen on either, especially introducing Ace to any of his brothers, at least not until there actually was anything between them.

It was a given that Marco wouldn't do anything while Ace worked for him. After all, that would give out the wrong idea to Ace and it could end badly for everyone if Ace assumed he had to give in to Marco if he wanted to keep his job. A disturbing thought, indeed. Robin, for one, would have a field-day if she knew about Marco's thoughts on the whole matter, which was yet another understatement. Though she managed to keep out of the whole business until that point, only observing how he behaved like a child to the new addition to their staff. Thatch must have rubbed off on him the wrong way at some point during the past week. Even if he wasn't necessarily needed, Marco could not get his brother to leave him alone. A broken arm did not make him unable to take care of himself, even if he did still bump his cast into doorways and random objects which, of course, was not a big deal after only a week of adjusting to the situation.

Marco jumped in his chair as the door the office opened without a warning, Ace appearing in the doorway a moment later. He smirked for a fleeting moment, making Marco think he had imagined it, before frowning.

"I need you," he said with a soft voice and Marco would be embarrassed to admit his heart skipped a beat before he mentally face-palmed at acting like a complete dork. Which, of course, Ace noticed and smirked again. Bastard was doing it on purpose! "Hancock doesn't believe that she needs to come in another time for the purple ink," Ace finished after a pause that was definitely too long, informing Marco that the other was indeed starting to pay him back in kind. It was somewhat thrilling, Marco concluded, and definitely more fun than when he was the only one playing this game. Though, he could hardly be thrilled about the reason for Ace's visit since he was painfully aware Hancock and Ace would get another round of gossiping if she chose to come back in the upcoming five weeks.

Marco could also swear Ace was striking a pose, subtle yet alluring. He couldn't really pinpoint what he was doing that was so different from usual, but he was fairly sure Hancock told him something regarding that. He could do nothing except get up and head for the door, just in time to see Ace walk away and there was definitely a more pronounced sway of his hips there. Or he was slowly losing his mind from the paranoia he had felt earlier.

He didn't even have to enter the room to hear her complaining. "You can finish it now!" she raised her voice at Ace who could only sigh in reply. Marco wished it could have been finished in one go so she would not be coming around for a considerable amount of time, but alas he was a professional first and her ex second. The tattoo shouldn't be done at once.

"He can't finish it today because your tattoo is now an open wound," Marco started in his professional voice. "There are too many small details and your skin needs to heal before working on it again. Or you can change your mind and leave it black without the purple scales," he finished, hoping she would go for the second option. Surely, he did have a bit of luck.

"You designed it yourself, Marco," she said with at a normal volume, but she did not sound pleased in the slightest. "If you thought it looked better without the purple, you wouldn't have put it there."

That was completely true and he would hate to see one of his works unfinished like that, but it was a risk he was willing to take just this once. But of course, she was having none of it.

"Tell your secretary to book me the first free appointment," she continued, as bossy as ever.

"He's not a secretary," Marco said with a colder voice this time. She was starting to frustrate him and he wasn't thrilled with it; after all, she was most likely the only person able to infuriate him and it happened mostly when she belittled his friends. "And you need to wait at least two weeks. I'll tell him to book you the first appointment after two weeks and I will let you know when that is," he finished what he had to say, his message clearly conveyed to her as she kept her mouth shut, but did nothing to hide her displeasure. Ace noticed the change in atmosphere too, but he hardly seemed surprised at her behavior or Marco's reaction to it. Hancock was really good at pissing people off, though most of them did nothing to show it since her beauty seemed to outweigh her bad attitude which was something that Marco didn't agree with. And, as the turn of events jogged his memory, it was also what had drawn her to him in the first place. Well, he had certainly learned his lesson there.

"Finish coating the tattoo and give her the instructions," he said to Ace as he turned to the door. "You can pay the bill next time," he added as an afterthought to Hancock and left the room, only to stop by the front desk. Usopp could find her an appointment without a problem, leaving it to Marco to simply instruct Usopp to inform her of the time and date before retreating to the office while Ace was still busy.

The door was once again closed behind him, his back resting against the comfy leather chair and he sighed again. That woman was trouble and if anything she told Ace was worthwhile, he was beyond done with her. Hell, he was already done with her and he really couldn't remember why he agreed to draw her tattoo. It was probably both a blessing and a curse that he didn't actually have to tattoo her. If he did have to, he'd have been stuck with her more than was strictly necessary, but at the same time, she wouldn't have shared most likely embarrassing details about his life to people who could use them against him. It was nothing serious, of course, but she had a way of raising his hackles.

Mere minutes later, the door opened again and, once again, revealed Ace's face. He was smiling with no ill intent this time, as far as Marco could tell, as he entered the office, closing the door behind him. Now, that raised his curiosity.

"She's gone," Ace said, maintaining eye contact with the blond. "Usopp could only find a free slot in two months and she wasn't really happy," he added with an amused chuckle. Great, Marco thought, he'd have to deal with her then.

"I told her, since I tattooed her, she can come to me in five weeks," Ace spoke again before Marco could even voice his thoughts. He did, however, direct a confused look in Ace's direction which only prompted a chuckle from him. "I see her all the time anyway, she's basically stalking my brother."

Now that would be considered interesting information, if he cared about things like that.

"Well, if you're okay with that, I certainly don't mind," Marco replied, trying not to show his excitement about the prospect of not dealing with her anymore.

Ace nodded and smiled, turning to the door and opening it before speaking over his shoulder.

"Thanks, pineapple!"

And then he was gone, the door closed once again. Out of all the things she could have told him, Hancock decided on the dumbest nickname he had ever gotten? And it wasn't even one she used. Even when not directly involved, Thatch and his humor seemed to have a really annoyingly long reach. That made him stop in his tracks with pure horror taking over him and he couldn't help but ask himself a simple question. She didn't know how he got that nickname, did she?


	4. Chapter 4

If, and that was a very big 'if' right there, Robin somehow hadn't noticed the war between her two fellow artists during Ace's first week, she certainly noticed it by the time the second week rolled to an end. Even Usopp perceived it by that point, really, and he wasn't exactly the most observant person in the world. Marco couldn't get over the fact Ace knew part of his most embarrassing secret and not knowing whether he knew the whole thing was unsettling to a whole new and unexplored level.

At least he was used to the cast after two weeks and Marco counted at least that as a blessing. Especially since it meant he didn't find Thatch hauled up on his couch in the mornings anymore. Finding him with mused hair and half lidded eyes every morning got old after the first three days, really, despite how fun it was throwing plastic spiders on him. That too wasn't funny anymore after the first three brain melting shrieks and an accidental punch to the face. Seeing as a broken arm, courtesy of Thatch, was enough for Marco, suffering a broken nose at the same time would just be too much.

Taking showers was still as ridiculous as ever, though, but his collection of plastic bags seemed to grow. Marco was already counting down until his cast came off, the damn thing's presence was the reason for Ace being in the salon too, which was in itself another form of torture for Marco. Well, he only had himself and Hancock to thank for that. His own teasing was what led him into the situation he was in. After all, Ace had every right to retaliate and Marco couldn't say he hated being teased all that much. It was the damn nickname that got to him, though. It was a product of what was his dumbest decision of his life and, shockingly, it involved Thatch too.

Putting aside the fact that every single of Marco's bad decisions could be traced back to Thatch in one way or another, Marco finished getting dressed and was out the door in a record time of ten minutes. For the first time in seven years, he was running late for work. Sure, he was painfully aware that his work day consisted mostly of reading books and being bored, unless Ace' s schedule allowed them to annoy Usopp and Robin with their banter. Something he was looking forward to on that specific day for no apparent reason other than the general boredom he felt at work every single day while his coworkers had actual work to do. Unlike him. He had owned that salon for six years already and it was the first time he couldn't work. It was like hell, unable to do what he loved most with an addition to his staff that he had mixed feelings about.

No matter how much he thought of Ace, Marco couldn't come to terms with what his actual opinion was. Ace was clearly a skilled artist, especially considering his age, though with being 27, Marco was only three years older, so they were almost equal in that department. Ace was, at the same time, also really nice and had a great sense of humor which was more often than not directed at Marco for a whole week already. This was, actually, where his conflicting feelings appeared. Ace used to blush furiously at Marco's teasing for the first week and it was downright adorable. Then Hancock had to appear and ruin everything, swiftly changing Ace's blush into a daring smirk which kind of just served to amuse Marco more, if that was even possible. Also in a completely new way, perhaps. He wasn't quite sure whether the images he conjured were praise worthy or not.

There was also the little matter of Ace calling him 'boss' which totally happened, it wasn't just his imagination. At least he hoped that was the case, because the last thing he needed at the moment were hallucinations to confuse him further as he was already confounded out of his mind with the seemingly innocent comments Ace made. Key word here being 'seemingly', because Marco knew for sure Ace chose his words carefully, adding 'boss' to each possible sentence with a tone that suggested anything but a strictly professional relationship. It couldn't be healthy, really, having impure thoughts about his employee just because of a simple word, right?

Even when running late, Marco made it to the parlor just in time to see Robin unlock the door, which she was entitled to do being an equal partner in the business and all. Besides, she could use both hands which was also a plus when unlocking doors. Marco could verify that from firsthand experience, unfortunately, but he could make coffee which did make him feel slightly less useless than he actually was.

The coffee was barely done by the time Ace showed up which was another thing that Marco didn't know how to react to. Ace developed a habit of showing up just after he and Robin did. It was fairly early and Usopp was still nowhere in sight, as usual. Ace seemed to fare better in the mornings than Usopp ever did, really, but Usopp never failed to show up before the official start of their work day, so it was never a problem for anyone. Ace, however, probably had ulterior motives to being there so early, but other than the whole messing with each other deal, Marco couldn't figure out what that motive could be.

The morning was a calm one, though. No shots fired yet and Marco was slightly unnerved by that. Ever since Hancock shared whatever secret she had with Ace, he was rarely quiet and out of Marco's way so having a normal conversation was a novelty. It probably shouldn't have, but it put Marco on edge and he was fairly sure that was a calm before some kind of storm.

He almost slapped himself right then and there. Other than acting completely childish, Marco was thinking of Ace as if he were a threat to national security or something. Of course, he blamed the whole thing on the broken arm. After all, it was the arm that landed him in the hospital where he met Ace and it was also the reason for finding a replacement in the first place. So, in conclusion, it was all Thatch's fault. Like always. Really, if he tried, Marco could trace all bad things back to Thatch, it was just a matter of persistence.

The front door of the parlor opened with a loud bang and a yell of Ace's name tore through the place, successfully startling Marco out of his thoughts that were straying dangerously into Thatch related territory. He got out of his seat and towards the open office door, in the direction of Usopp's less than manly shriek. Marco was half expecting a group of armed men holding his apprentice at gunpoint after a sound like that, but what he found was maybe even more alarming.

Usopp was still safely on his post behind the front desk, which in itself was praise worthy, but this time he doubled as a climbing post for a dark haired kid that strangely resembled a monkey in his present state wrapped around Usopp's body. Quite a strange scene, indeed, considering there was another person leaning over the desk, trying to pry the boy from a now chuckling Usopp.

Well, as far as weird situations in the parlor went, this one was in the top five of Marco's list and, refreshingly so, didn't include Thatch. There was clearly some hope for him, after all.

He wasn't the only one alarmed by the noise, though, seeing as Ace burst out of his work room looking like he was ready to tackle whatever assailant was trying to rob the place. It was funny to look at, really, but to Marco's surprise, Ace didn't relax once seeing they weren't in any imminent danger. He even seemed to stiffen further as he uttered a name with what looked like pure horror to Marco.

"Luffy," Ace said with wide eyes. The other three turned to him and Marco had a chance to look at the blond man, recognizing him as a fellow artist.

"Sabo?" Marco asked and Ace's head immediately snapped into his direction, the horror on his face multiplying for a reason Marco couldn't even fathom. Sabo looked at him as well, his expression showing only slight surprise for a moment before he smiled.

"I should have known this was your place the moment Ace told me about it," he said, giving up on the two behind the front desk and making his way to Marco. They shook hands, with no regard to the confused faces of the other three occupants of the room.

"The name makes sense," Sabo added with a grin and Marco couldn't help but chuckle at that; Robin had said the same thing when they renamed the place at the beginning of their partnership.

"I thought so too," Marco replied before glancing at the other three. Ace looked absolutely mortified while Usopp seemed slightly confused and the strange monkey boy looked as if he were completely bored. "And how do you know Ace?" Marco asked, barely managing to keep the smirk off his face as he glanced sideways to Ace's now completely pale face. The lack of color really made his freckles stand out.

"We're brothers," Sabo replied, shocking Marco to the core. He had met Sabo a while back at a seminar, they had kept in touch and some brothers may have been mentioned, but he didn't know Ace at the time. "Speaking of, that's Luffy, our younger brother. I think I told you about him," Sabo added and yes, Marco could remember some things faintly. Honestly, between all of his brothers and the two Sabo had, it wasn't that surprising that a name or two slipped past him.

"Yo!" Luffy chirped, focusing for all but a moment before his attention settled on Ace. "Ace, you look funny!" he said with a grin and, turning towards Ace, Marco had to agree with the kid. Ace did look funny with his mouth agape and eyes wide. He probably shouldn't laugh at him, though, but it was a really weird reaction to the whole situation. Luffy's words seemed to snap Ace out of his daze, however, and he closed his mouth after what felt like an eternity before promptly turning around to disappear in his room without a word. Luffy seemed deterred by that for a short moment before he was back to clinging to Usopp who stayed surprisingly quiet the whole time.

"Well, that was..." Marco started, turning to Sabo who shared his confusion. "...strange."

"Indeed," Sabo had an unreadable expression on his face, but Marco wasn't inclined to pry. At least not about that. He could, maybe, pry about some embarrassing stories. Or would that be considered unprofessional? Well, the sight of Usopp and Luffy pretty much wrestling on the front desk of his parlor was unprofessional. At least for normal work places, that is.

"Why don't you join me for coffee in my office?" Marco asked, looking at Sabo before lifting his cast clad arm. Having company for once would do him good, he supposed, though the amounts of coffee he had been drinking since the unfortunate event that started the whole mess with the broken arm was ungodly. Well, one more wouldn't kill him.

\--0--

Ace sat alone in the room, his head resting on his hands. He should have known the luck he had with Hancock wouldn't last. He wasn't a firm believer in karma, but if he was, he'd be worried it would bite him in the ass. It was the only way to explain Luffy's presence. He could live with Sabo being there, despite the fact his brother seemed to know Marco. Sabo could keep his mouth shut. Unlike Luffy. That kid was the root of most his problems, really. If it wasn't for the dumbass, Ace would never have been in the hospital that faithful day. He fought the urge to slap himself for thinking something cheesy as 'faithful day', momentarily forgetting that his brothers were on the other side of the door, talking to his coworkers. Screw that, they were talking to Marco and he could see so many ways that could go wrong. At least for him, Marco would know how to use every single thing those two told him. Oh, he could already feel a headache building behind his eyes.

What the hell was he doing, anyway? It was a question he had asked himself frequently over the last few weeks, even more so since he started the whole war thing with Marco. Ace's eyes widened in realization as his head snapped out of his hands. He wasn't worried that Marco would learn something embarrassing about him, he was worried that Marco would get a hold on new ammunition and Ace would once again fall behind. He was convinced the whole thing was leading to something and it would do him no good to fall back into his previous excessive blushing and speechless behavior. Once was more than enough, thank you.

Well, he could finally admit that he was attracted to his boss. Again, when said like that, it sounded really... kinky. Giving him images he'd rather not think about while at work, but knowing he was only a door away from Marco... It was giving him ideas and he didn't know how to handle it. In all honesty, he didn't exactly find a lot of people attractive or like them beyond a platonic level. It was a rare occurrence, but when it did happen, he tried his best to make it work. He was the one in pursuit, trying to win over the person he liked more than others.

And then there was Marco.

He couldn't honestly figure out what it was about him that turned Ace into a complete pervert. Well, okay, he might have been a pervert all the time, but not this fast after meeting someone. It wasn't easy to admit, really, since he was still fairly confused as to whether Marco held the same interest or just enjoyed hazing him. So the question rose; should he start flirting with Marco for real? It was tempting, but he didn't want things to turn awkward for the remaining three and a half weeks if he was wrong and Marco was just messing with him. And he was back in high school girl mode, fretting over whether Marco liked him or not. That may have been the part of the whole situation that frustrated Ace the most. He wasn't acting like his usual self and it was weird. The whole agonizing over such things was something he hadn't done since he was a teen and that worried him more than anything else. 

Though, he reasoned that it was normal to fret over whatever Luffy would undoubtedly blurt out. Ace loved his brother a lot, but the kid could not keep his mouth shut even if his life depended on it. Okay, that wasn't true, Luffy could keep quiet about important stuff, but secrets like that were far and few in between. Everything else that wasn't a matter of life or death, no matter how embarrassing to other people, was fair game to Luffy. He didn't seem to know what embarrassing meant, anyway.

Still sitting in the same spot for what felt like an eternity, Ace sighed. He was annoyed at his own behavior, thinking about it all with too much drama. Honestly, he felt like there was a soap opera going through his mind and he couldn't help but chuckle as he tried to imagine Marco as a protagonist in a trashy TV show. Wait, that would make him the damsel in distress. Okay, that comparison was no longer funny.

Feeling a bit less panicked, Ace came to terms with his attraction. It wasn't like Marco was a bad guy, anyway. He was also very attractive and really funny. Ace could try flirting like a normal person -really, how did that not cross his mind- and if it didn't work out, he would get over it. Yeah, he could try handling it like a normal person and not like a brat or a complete pervert. Though, he had noticed the little shift in Marco's demeanor when he'd refer to him as 'boss'. They were probably both perverts and Ace decided he could live with that.

A crashing sound, similar to the one that had brought him out the first time, sounded from the front room followed by a sound between a shout and a pained yelp. Ace would be adamant about going out there once again, especially after making a fool of himself the last time, but if someone was hurt, he should see what was going on. He made it through the door just as Robin got out of her work area as well, obviously getting the same idea.

Usopp was still at his station, Luffy close by, but his head was low and Ace recognized guilt from the way he held himself. He was almost afraid to ask why that was, but Robin beat him to it and voiced what was bothering them both. Usopp simply shrugged.

"Luffy bumped into Marco and made him spill coffee all over himself," Usopp said, while Luffy muttered something to himself. Usopp went back to whatever it was he was doing and Luffy was still in his spot.

"Where's Sabo?" Ace asked as he walked towards the open door of Marco's office with Robin, looking around to see where his brother was.

"He left right after you had your... meltdown," Usopp snickered, but didn't look at him. Ace frowned and a response was already forming on his lips when he looked into the office and froze, his eyes going wide. With his gaze fixed to the sight before him, he completely missed the chuckle that left Robin's mouth as she noticed what Ace was so blatantly staring at.

Right next to the desk with his back towards the two of them was Marco. A very shirtless Marco. Ace wasn't even trying to hide the fact he was ogling the man, not that he even noticed it himself, he was so shocked into the state of not noticing anything else in the room. The only thing keeping him from walking up to Marco and licking up the length of his spine was the sound of Luffy snapping out of his guilt trip and chatting with Usopp, but the two were clearly oblivious to Ace.

And Ace couldn't look away. Marco's back was gorgeous, muscled yet it still looked perfectly smooth. But it wasn't the back itself that held Ace's attention, no matter how perfect it was. It was the tattoo covering it that took his breath away. Or, more accurately, knocked the breath and all common sense out of him.

Marco's back, shoulders and arms were covered in shades of blue, but the longer Ace stared, he noticed green, orange and bits of purple. The first thing Ace saw in those colors was fire. Ice cold fire flickering across Marco's skin in the form of wings, leaving only one clear strip of skin down his spine where they separated. The unmarred pale skin stood in stark contrast to the icy flames so different to the fire Ace was usually fascinated with. Ace could see the muscles under the flames move as Marco shifted something on the table and the wings looked as if they were alive. He was already looking at the man in front of him for a while, slowly noticing more details of the work of art on his back. Feathers outlined in black sprouted from his shoulder blades, spreading through the flames in lighter outlines, disappearing in the hues of blue here and there. The whirlwind of feathers in a flurry of blue, green and orange covered Marco's shoulders and slid down the length of his arms even though the forearm of the right arm covered with the cast, obscuring Ace's vision. Darker hues dominated on the lower back and thin, longer feathers coiled around the dips of Marco's lower back, the tips almost disappearing into the waistband of the his pants that already hung low on his hips. Two longer purple feathers extended over his sides and, Ace suspected, over his hip bones.

Marco pulled a shirt over his head, sliding it down as he turned towards the door, offering Ace only a moment to confirm his suspicion of those lone dark feathers coiling over sharp hip bones before dipping into the front of Marco's pants. Ace barely stopped himself from imagining where they ended before Marco pulled the shirt all the way down and looked at them.

Ace heard Robin's chuckle this time and averted his gaze before Marco noticed he was staring somewhere in the vicinity of his crotch. Getting caught would just be unnecessarily awkward. Robin noticed, probably. She seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere and an intuition that could probably break Ace's brain if he tried to make sense of it.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked and Ace feared the question was directed at him, but sighed in relief as Marco answered.

"I'm fine, it was just a bit of coffee."

The two partners exchanged a few more words, neither paying attention to Ace who fixed his gaze back to a tattooed hip as the cotton shirt Marco put on rode up just to tease Ace with a sliver of inked skin. He really wanted to know how low those feathers went. He really, really wanted to know.

Robin cleared her throat and Ace lifted his gaze to look Marco in the eyes, blushing furiously as he smirked, but said nothing.

"You look like a thug in that shirt," Ace said and regained some composure as Marco's cheeks dusted with pink. The shirt was clearly too small for Marco's muscular torso, but it was so tight, Ace could see every single curve gracing his front. What he really meant to say was how hot Marco looked, but that seemed like an unwise thing to state. At least for the time being; he could use it probably at some point to fluster Marco or maybe use it to start flirting for real. "You think it might be a bit small for you, boss?" he asked, the title rolling off his tongue in a lower voice, deliberately pushing one button Ace knew for sure would goad a reaction from Marco.

"It's Usopp's shirt," Marco replied and Ace couldn't help but laugh. Usopp was shorter and far less muscled up than Marco turned out to be. Hell, Usopp was short and scrawny, compared to Marco. It was a mystery how Marco managed to even pull the thing on. "Well, don't worry, you won't have to look at me like this," he added without breaking eye contact, the barely noticeable blush already gone. At least Ace was sure the embarrassing crimson drained from his face as well.

"Oh?" Robin said, breaking what looked like a stare-down between the two. "And where are you going?" she asked as she finally stepped into the office and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Lunch with Izo," he answered and started for the door as he pulled his jacket on, Ace already mourning the loss of the view though he noticed his sanity returned. "I'm not coming back today so you lock up."

"Well, you may remember I said I would be leaving early today as well," she said with a smile. "I have a date." Marco only raised an eyebrow at that.

"Fine, Ace can lock up," Marco said and effectively surprised Ace. He stared at Marco, complete shock written all over his face. It was a great display of trust for him to leave Ace with such a responsibility. "Give him the spare keys before you leave. See you tomorrow." With that Marco left the room and Ace could hear Usopp saying his goodbye before Luffy apologized quietly which was surprising to Ace.

“The canvas is only as beautiful as the work of art painted on it.” Robin broke the silence in the office, sipping her coffee as Ace turned to look at her in confusion. “But in our work, it’s quite the opposite, don’t you think?” She smirked at the look on Ace's face for a brief moment before hiding her mouth behind the cup.

Ace was stunned for what felt like an eternity, her words playing through his confused mind and he couldn’t help but agree with what she said.

“The ink is only as beautiful as the canvas it’s on,” Robin mused, her voice low as if she were simply thinking out loud to herself while he was conveniently in the room. Though, he had to agree with her. Marco was a tattoo artist for some years now and Ace would be a fool to think he didn't have any ink on himself, but unlike most people in the profession, he didn't have any art in visible places. At least not as far as Ace had seen until then and that didn't mean much considering it was still too cold for short sleeved shirts. For normal people, at least, since Ace wore short sleeves for a while already.

Nonetheless, he completely agreed with Robin on the matter of Marco being hot. His ink was amazing as well and it seemed to oddly fit him, as well as wings of blue flames and feathers can fit a person.

"Whoever made that tattoo is amazing as hell," he said, his thoughts wondering back to the memory of how lively the fire looked and how it seemed to dance before his eyes as the muscles underneath rippled with the slightest movement Marco made.

"Why, thank you," Robin replied and Ace's gaze snapped back to her. "That was one of my best works," she added with a chuckle at Ace's expression.

"You made those?" Ace asked, genuinely stunned at the revelation.

"You could say I gave him wings," she told him with another of her mysterious smiles.

Ace moved to one of the chairs and sat down, now genuinely intrigued.

"So why are they made of fire?" he asked, excitement seeping into his voice. He was always interested in good body art and he rarely got to talk to such skilled artists like the one who made those blazing wings.

Robin chuckled at that, taking a sip of coffee and successfully made Ace wriggle in his seat as he tried to keep his childlike excitement under wraps. "They're phoenix wings because Marco reminded me of one," she replied with a shrug.

Now it was Ace's turn to chuckle as he asked another question, this time jokingly. "What, he bursts into flames once in a while?" When he spared it some thought, though, he couldn't think of a tattoo that would fit him better, even if he couldn't pinpoint why exactly that was. Ace noticed a wide range of color in those flames and they all complimented Marco to a great extent, whether they seemed to melt from his skin tone from the uncovered three inch wide stripe of skin on his spine or matched the color of his eyes. Even to an untrained eye, it would be obvious that the ink covering his back was a work of art that had been created specifically for him, matching his personality and looks, before the artist spent countless hours transferring the lifelike flames from paper to skin.

He was brought back to the present by Robin clearing her throat and she spoke only when she had his attention.

"No," she replied with complete seriousness. "But he mates for life," she added as she set her now empty cup on the desk before making her way to the door. "He just doesn't know it yet." She finally smiled at him for a moment before leaving the room.

Ace couldn't really decide what to do with that nor could he decide what Robin had meant. Did she know something Ace didn't? Alright, she probably did, that wasn't even up for debate. Maybe she could help him with Marco. But that wouldn't really be fair, would it?

Usopp peeked into the room.

"Hey, your next appointment's here," he said before Luffy's voice reached them and Ace got up to prevent Luffy from doing something stupid just because he was left alone for a few moments. "Oh, and Robin left the spare keys by the computer so you can lock up."

"Okay, thanks," he said and made his way out, surprised to see Luffy talking excitedly with a blue haired girl.

"Nojiko," Ace greeted. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ace," she said with a grin. "Don't tell me you'll be doing my ink again. Do I get a family discount now?" She chuckled as Luffy pulled a face and Ace couldn't stop himself as he laughed as well.

Ace laughed and motioned to the door of his room, letting her go first. Luffy's relationship with Nami was more of a platonic one than romantic, something both Ace and Nojiko knew, but it was kind of ridiculous that Ace couldn't woo one man when even Luffy managed to find something steady with Nami. Well, he didn't really try properly yet. With that, Ace decided he'd get right on that and take the first chance that presented itself. It was either that or be cursed to live with constant images invading his mind, images of feathers and blue flames dancing on a perfect sweaty body above him.

Shaking his head, Ace decided he needed to pull himself together and do something constructive for once. 


	5. Chapter 5

Considering Ace had to deal with Hancock only a short while ago, having to work on Nojiko was a nice change of pace. The fact that it was finally Friday, the end of his third week at Phoenix, was also a good thing. Maybe. He still wasn't quite sure about it. After all, it meant only a few more weeks and he would be putting the final touches on his own parlor with Sabo. On the other hand, it meant he'd probably have no contact with Marco and Robin whatsoever. Mostly Marco, though. As much as he liked Robin in a weird way, she wasn't the first on his mind at the moment.

Ace shook his head, rummaging through Usopp's clutter on the front desk for the spare keys Robin had left. He was given a responsibility and he'd be damned if something went wrong. Of course, he only had to lock a door, but whatever. He was aware that he'd been reading too much into the whole thing and that Marco probably didn't even think about leaving his keys to Ace as a statement of love or something. Ace tried reasoning that it had been a long day and he was too tired to think straight.

He did, however, still have enough common sense to know that visiting Sabo at work was a bad idea, but hell if he didn't need a drink. Besides, these Friday night hangouts with Sabo were the only thing giving him a sense of normalcy in the short while since their parlor burned down. They didn't work together so the only time they spent together was during breakfast and Friday nights at Shanks' bar; the two weeks before he was employed by Marco were a time he'd rather not talk about even if he didn't get to work with his brother during the time. Kind of.

Ace turned off all the lights after checking if everything was in place and turned off properly, stepping into the chilly late afternoon. He close the door behind him, turning the key twice before deciding to do it again, for good measure then checking if it was properly closed. It wouldn't do if something went wrong because of his carelessness. Marco would never forgive him; even if he did, Ace wouldn't forgive himself. He'd observed Marco in his natural habitat for three weeks already and the man was so at ease in the parlor, sometimes it was a wonder he actually left for the night. Ace had the chance to observe Marco, to put it mildly, as he kept coming to work each day even if he had nothing of his usual work to do. It was admirable, Ace decided, though still not sure if it would be better if he didn't come in every day.

Well, if he was completely honest with himself for once, Ace had to admit that, yes, he liked the fact Marco was there every day. Of course, it was also very frustrating, but things have calmed down significantly since Hancock's appointment. Or Ace was just starting to enjoy the banter, he wasn't quite sure. Still, his decision to seduce Marco was still in effect even if he hadn't made any progress in the field yet and time was running out. The first three weeks seemed to have passed in a blur and Ace was sure the last three would be the same. It was a saddening thought that he might never see Marco again after his employment there was over.

With a fairly slow pace, Ace started his walk home. The streets were mostly empty and the sun already starting to set as the chill in the air increased. The weather had been fickle the last few days, switching between what was normal spring weather to remnants of winter. Of course, Ace barely felt the difference, but he did enjoy the sun as it had a positive effect on his mood. Not to mention that it was nicer to walk the Admiral to the park if it was sunny. Thinking of the dog, Ace quickened his step knowing Sabo had already left and the little trouble maker was most likely shedding all over his pillow.

Managing to divert his thoughts from Marco, Ace made it home with a clear plan of his evening. Sure enough, the excited corgi was already waiting for him by the door the moment he walked into the apartment. After ridding himself of the jacket Sabo made him wear and his shoes, Ace made his way to the kitchen with an idea for a quick dinner before heading out. As usual, strips of chicken somehow managed to find their way into the little dog's mouth, something Sabo kept scolding him for, but it really didn't have an impact on Ace.

The two ate in silence, something unusual for Ace even if he was alone with the dog because, really, the fact Garpie was a dog never deterred Ace from talking to him. At least the dog was good company. Finishing his dinner sooner than expected, Ace washed the dishes and managed a quick shower accompanied by clawing sounds from the door as a certain someone was attempting to enter the bathroom and hop into the shower with him. Again. For a dog, Garpie had a strange affinity for bathing.

Still, Ace hurried with the shower and finished before the dog broke down his door, stepping out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to put some clothes on, hoping Sabo wouldn't complain about his choice of attire. It would be far from the first time and Ace could hardly say he cared, but it was still a bother to listen how he can't wear combat boots with dress slacks or how he couldn't go to work without a shirt. Sabo even had a problem with his favorite pair of jeans with the tear under his back pocket. He went with a pair of black jeans and a soft grey cotton shirt; neutral enough to not warrant a complaint from his brother and maybe a bit on the tight side to show off, even if he wasn't planning on leaving with anyone.

Slipping into his well worn boots and pulling on the leather jacket he didn't really feel the need to wear, Ace took the red leash from the hall. The Admiral was already waiting by the door, barely containing his excitement, if he was even attempting it. Hooking the leash to the corgi's collar, Ace opened the door and led the overly excited dog outside. If it was anything but a corgi, Ace would most likely find himself dragged out into the street with a dog gone wild, but alas, the Admiral was too small for that and he chuckled at how enthusiastic the dog way.

They made their way down the street, in the opposite direction of Ace's usual route to the parlor. The sun was already down, the street lights illuminating their way as well as the fair few other people walking about. Ace didn't feel the need to hurry as he had plenty of time; Sabo's shift didn't end before midnight anyway. Still, he figured if he went earlier, he might avoid a crowd and go home earlier to actually sleep. He wasn't really tired so far, but it was only a matter of time.

It was a short walk to Luffy's place, thankfully, as the dog was pulling him with a force greater than that of a simple corgi. No wonder he liked Luffy as much as he did. Finally at the familiar door, Ace pressed the buzzer and waited for someone to answer. The intercom let out a sound before Luffy's voice rang through.

"Hi! I'm Luffy!"

Ace almost face palmed, but decided against it as Garpie jumped excitedly at hearing Luffy's voice.

"It's me, I brought Garpie over for the night," he said, wincing at the excited yell coming from the intercom followed by an angry sounding shout from Nami. Before Ace could even say hi to her, Luffy came bursting through the front door of the building and stopped just in time to avoid a collision. He straightened his back immediately, glancing at the dog at his feet before he raised his hand in salute.

"Admiral," he said with a serious voice, his eyes trained on the proud looking dog. Ace was pretty sure the dog actually understood Luffy's salutes most of the time as he always slipped into the same stance with his head held high like a decorated soldier. He barked in reply, something Luffy understood as permission to scoop him up and scratch his chin. "We're gonna have so much fun!" Luffy exclaimed before glancing at Ace as if he didn't notice him until then. "Oh hey, you're going to see Sabo?" he asked with a grin.

"Yeah. I'm leaving him here until tomorrow if that's okay," Ace said, handing over the leash to his brother. Luffy may have been immature and accident-prone, but he loved that little dog more than the dog loved him so they were both visibly heartbroken when Luffy moved out.

"Can he stay for the weekend? Can he, please Ace," Luffy pleaded and Ace couldn't find it in himself to deny such a request.

"Sure, just don't forget to feed him."

The horrified look on Luffy's face was almost enough to make Ace burst into laughter. "I would never!" he uttered with complete mortification. He turned his gaze to the dog in question and mumbled something that sounded like "don't mind him, I'd never forget, it's okay" to Ace.

"Oh, hey, why don't you let me visit Sabo at work, too?" Luffy asked with a tilt of his head and genuine curiosity written on his face.

"Because both Nami and Sabo would gut me if I took you there," Ace replied before petting Garpie one more time. "Take care of him and I'll see you on Sunday."

"Bye!" Luffy shouted after him, seemingly no longer interested in why he wasn't allowed to go to Sabo's temporary workplace. It wasn't exactly easy to explain, really, not that Ace wanted that task with knowing how innocent Luffy could be at times. He continued down the main street, turning into an alley a few blocks down from Luffy's apartment and continued on his way. Despite the general tangled nature of streets and alleys further from the main street, Ace could find his way pretty easily until he reached his destination; the district glowing in neon from all the clubs situated there.

Ace couldn't help but chuckle a bit before he reached his destination. After all, Sabo openly resented him for landing a job in a well known tattoo parlor while sABO himself had to play bartender for two months. It wasn't even the bartending bit that bothered him, Ace could guess, but more the place that actually hired him. Sure, Ace had worked there as well, but he didn't mind it that much and, in all honesty, Ace knew it was a punishment of sorts for causing the accident that cost them their parlor.

He walked past the red headed scowling bouncer as the man let him in with a nod and immediately found himself neck deep in barely dressed men with some sort of jazz music flooding him. There weren't that many people there yet, it was still fairly early to go to a strip club, after all. At least Ace guessed that was the case, there were people around at all random times while he worked there.

"Missed us already?" the smooth voice reached him and he turned around to meet a pair of grey eyes circled by black. "Didn't think you'd come back at all, really."

Ace chuckled as he placed a hand on Law's shoulder. "Aw, Law, how could I ever live without you?" He got a smirk in reply, amusement clear on Law's face the entire time. "But I'm here to see Sabo this time," Ace added as he turned to the bar, noticing his brother immediately, serving what looked like a gin and tonic to a man dressed in a rather nice looking black suit. "Can you have a drink with me?" he asked, glancing at Law for a moment.

"Nah, I'm supposed to be working, though as you can see, there's almost no one here yet," Law said as he, contrary to his words, followed Ace to the bar. "Though, mister Eustass," Law said the name with a smirk before continuing, "will be off in two hours and I'm sure he'd love to have a drink."

"Doesn't he always?" Ace replied with a chuckle as he sat on the barstool next to the man in the suit.

"Well, I'll see you later then," Law said before walking away and Ace turned to Sabo behind the bar just in time to see a beer being set down in front of him. "Hey," he said and Sabo nodded before returning to the black haired man next to him.

"Wait, so you're doing what to him? He's gonna have a heart attack, you know," Sabo told the man, shaking his head in the process, yet he still wore a smile on his face. "You're mean."

The man chuckled and Ace turned to look at him, noting the man wore purple eyeliner and actually pulled off the look. He did seem familiar, though, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Well, I promised to help even if I don't want to get between my brothers." His voice was low and smooth as silk, something he'd never actually say out loud.

"It's weird when you call Thatch your brother even when you're dating," Sabo said with a raised eyebrow.

"We're not related by blood, blondie," the man replied with a scowl. "You're gonna go to the back and pull out a crate of Jack Daniels for that little comment," he added and his scowl turned into a smirk at the look on Sabo's face.

"Fine, you can entertain my brother then," Sabo said with narrow eyes as he walked to the door leading to the storage room.

The man turned to him for the first time and, without any reservations, glanced over him from head to toe.

"You look like my brother's type," he said, offering his hand. "I'm Izo," he added as an afterthought, shaking Ace's hand.

"Uhm, I'm Ace," he said, slightly confused at the straightforwardness of the man and also very skeptical about the situation. "Nice to meet you."

"Ace?" the man repeated, seemingly deep in thought suddenly. "That sounds familiar."

"I was a waiter here for a couple of weeks?" he offered with a grimace, really not that happy with remembering the 'uniform' he wore for the time.

"Interesting," Izo said with a lifted eyebrow, "but that's not it. Haruta hired you?"

"Uh... yeah," Ace was still confused and he couldn't say he liked it. "How'd you know?"

"I own the place," he replied matter-of-factly. "So, are you single? How old are you anyway?"

"I am..." he replied with suspicion, now really beyond of the realm of confused. "And I'm 24. Uhm, why?"

"Like I said, you seem like my brother's type and he's hasn't dated anyone in a while, been frustrated lately..." Izo trailed off, his eyes widening just the tiniest bit before he grinned. "Ace..." he mumbled, his grin only widening. "Tell me, how long do you plan on sticking around tonight?"

\--0--

"I'm not going," Thatch said, shaking his head furiously as they stood in front of the neon lights. "He'll kill me if I go in there and you know it."

Marco did know it or rather, he knew it would have been true had it not been for the fact Izo himself came up with the whole idea. The two were a strange couple, to say the least, but well, who was Marco to judge. All he wanted out of this was punishment for Thatch, despite saying they were even after the spider, because really, it had been three weeks and the cast was still not the slightest bit fun.

"No, he won't," Marco stated with a roll of his eyes. "We're here to see him, anyway."

"You know he said I'm not allowed in and I'm not gonna start breaking that rule now."

"Don't be such a coward."

Thatch's glare looked like it could melt plastic, but Marco was far from deterred. "You know how scary he can be."

Okay, Marco had to admit that Izo could really be fucking scary when he really wanted to be and he could understand Thatch's reluctance because of that. But it was still important to get him into the damn strip club his boyfriend owned, dammit! The red haired bouncer was observing them with a confused scowl, something Marco never even thought was possible, but Thatch's indecision was setting them back.

The door of the club opened with a loud bang, startling even the scary bouncer, before Izo strut out in a crisp black suit and a scowl on his face.

"Will you two just get in already?" He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed in front of his chest, glaring at the two, only stopping to smile for a brief moment as he pressed his lips to Thatch's. Izo turned to Marco next, the gentle smile morphing into a sly grin and Marco knew it was him that was getting screwed rather than Thatch. "I'm dropping the plan, we're staying here," he said and started towards the bar without sparing the two another glance. Well, that didn't go as he had hoped.

Still, now he found himself in the middle of a strip club with a fair number of half naked men, most of them younger than he was and he didn't know what do to. Not like he was embarrassed or anything, but being surrounded by scantly dressed men was hardly helping his frustrations. Even if those were centered around a freckle faced embodiment of sexual frustrations. The same freckle faced embodiment sitting next to Izo at the bar. Marco wasn't one to believe in accidents and the fact Izo glanced at him with a devious grin on his face already betraying that he knew who Ace was.

Well, shit.

Ace turned around, following Izo's gaze and his eyes landed on Marco. They were both still for a moment, staring at each other just like that day when Ace came to the office to introduce himself only to be surprised at who he found there. With a sigh, Marco started for the bar, knowing he was beyond the point of escape. And even if he tried, Izo would have his ass back in there before he even had time to fear for his life.

Ace, however, still looked fairly stunned and slightly flushed which was one more thing to add to the ever growing list of things that do not help his frustrations. "Didn't expect to see you here," Marco said with a smile while Ace glanced between him and Izo.

"Oh, you two know each other?" Izo asked with poorly feigned surprise. "Ace, this is my brother I told you about." Ace's eyes widened a bit at that before he grinned and Marco had to ask himself what exactly Izo told him. The range of Izo's knowledge about him was endless, hence the rise of mortification in his gut. Ace's grin did nothing to help him, either. Thatch was the only one that looked more confused than he was, letting Marco know that he was as clueless as ever. For now, at least, as Izo grabbed Thatch's arm and dragged him away with a quick excuse.

"So, your brother owns a strip club." It was a statement, one that drew Marco's attention back to Ace. Well, what the hell. Marco chuckled and took what was Izo's spot.

"He does."

"And he's dating your other brother," Ace added with a questioning undertone.

"You're making it sound so wrong," Marco replied, though couldn't fight another chuckle. "None of us are actually related by blood, we just grew up with the same foster dad," he finished as Sabo brought him a drink, the look on his face suggesting he was just as confused about seeing him there as Ace was. Still, the place was filling up and Sabo had no time to chat, leaving them in peace, as much as it was possible anyway. "And what are you doing here?"

"Sabo works here, came to visit him," Ace replied before flashing another grin. "Besides, this place is crawling with half naked hot people," he stated matter-of-factly with his beer in his hand. As if to prove a point, a tattooed guy with black hair came to them, leaning onto Ace's shoulder as he spoke.

"You should watch my performance," he told Ace, barely loud enough for Marco to hear. "I know mister Eustass will." With a smirk, the dancer left as fast as he appeared.

"Wow, did you pick him up with the same charm you used on that nurse?" Marco asked, almost snorting out his drink as he remembered the pick-up lines Ace used.

Ace simply laughed, clearly remembering the same thing after a short moment of confusion. "Law? Hell no," he said, taking a sip of his beer. "I think the bouncer would have my heart on a plate if I tried that."

Marco was about to question it when Ace spoke again. "Besides, would those lines work on you?" he asked, chuckling as he observed Marco. Marco could have sworn there was the tiniest bit of sincere curiosity present in the tone.

"Maybe," Marco replied, the phrase 'what the hell' going through his head. It was about time he started openly flirting with Ace and what better opportunity to do so if not in a strip club. Well, fine, the location might not have been perfect, but that was beside the point. "I won't know until you try," he added, glancing sideways into Ace's eyes. Shock may have been evident on Ace's face for a moment, but he smiled finally, averting his eyes.

"Well, then I'll have to try once," he said, his smile bordering on a grin. "But you're expecting it now so I can't. Speaking of the hospital, how did you break your arm? Or should I ask if you killed the person who slammed you into a headboard?" Ace asked with a smirk, surprising him with the fact he remembered his words from that encounter.

"Actually, I fell asleep on a bunk bed and Thatch scared me into falling off, breaking my arm in the process," Marco replied, evading the subject of slamming people into headboards for the moment. He was, however, hoping he'd get to use that at a later time. "It was nothing fun, really."

"Breaking a bone is rarely fun, though," Ace said with a faraway look in his eyes, as if he were remembering something. "But how did someone manage to scare you, pineapple?" Ace asked, sliding in on the bar stool to face Marco fully, just in time to see Marco narrow his eyes and glare.

"I have a feeling you might already know," he said with caution. "Though I cannot imagine how. What exactly did Hancock tell you?"

"Oh, this and that," Ace replied vaguely, his hand moving in an equally vague gesture. "Pineapples, mostly," he added with a grin. Marco didn't find that quite as helpful as he'd like, seeing as it could, unfortunately, mean more than one thing.

"Hm?" he hummed, smirking at Ace. "And are you that interested in pineapples?"

Ace seemed to think about it for a moment. "Maybe," he replied, still seeming to think it over. "Some kinds, at least. I hear your love for pineapples is great," Ace added, looking genuinely proud of himself. "You'll have to tell me where you got the boxers, though, I haven't see many with pineapples printed on them."

Marco relaxed a bit, hoping that was the only pineapple related thing Hancock told Ace because, honestly, it was the more reasonable thing. It's not like he really liked pineapples that much, it all started with a drunken mistake ages ago and things just went downhill from there. Pineapple-wise, at least.

"Well, I'm not sure you'd know how to appreciate them with an attitude like that," Marco replied, barely keeping the smirk from his face. He'd let Ace have his fun for the moment, but he'd strike when Ace least expected it.

"Aaaaw, come on, you can't withhold something like your pineapple boxers from me," Ace teased, clearly not noticing what he had said.

"Ah, if that's all you wanted, you could have asked," Marco replied, watching as Ace's eyes widened a bit. "I'd have considered showing them to you." Ace's blush returned, but far from the scarlet color it used to be in the beginning of their so called friendship.

"Marco, please," Ace said, feigning the look of shock. "We're in public!"

Marco raised an eyebrow, turning fully towards Ace as Ace had done before. "If there's a place where I could strip, it would be here," Marco replied, motioning with his healthy hand towards the various dancers around them.

"Ah, yes, Izo did mention something like that," Ace mused with a finger pressed to his lower lip as he appeared to be thinking about it while Marco's mouth went dry. He didn't even think of some of the stuff Izo knew about him, like, obviously, the fact he had stripped in the club as a dare once. Something Izo wouldn't have any qualms about mentioning to strangers if there was a possibility of setting Marco up on a date. Of course, almost all of them did it at one point seeing as Izo enjoyed making them do it, though, it changed with Thatch's enthusiastic performance that brought him more than enough attention. Izo didn't particularly like that part of the whole thing.

"Did he?" he asked trough gritted teeth, his eyes narrow as he made a mental note to have an extensive talk with Izo. Across him, Ace hummed in reply.

"He might have mentioned something... interesting," he said. "Though, I already heard plenty of interesting things about you," Ace added with a smile. Before Marco could reply, however, the tattooed dancer called Ace's name again to catch his attention before making his way to the stage in the middle of the club. Seeing as Ace's attention turned to the upcoming show, Marco got up from his stool with the idea of finding Izo for their little chat.

"Oh, Marco?" Ace called out to him before he could step away from the bar. "If you were a pineapple, you'd be a nice pineapple," he said and grinned at him, making Marco realize it was another improvised pick-up line right away and smile. Since Ace actually started flirting, no matter how ridiculously, Marco figured he could do the same and pay him back for the pineapple jokes at the same time.

Stepping closer to Ace who was still sitting on his bar stool, Marco stretched his healthy arm to the edge of the bar, mindful to keep it as close to Ace as possible as he leaned in. His mouth was just shy of Ace's ear, their bodies close enough to feel each other's heat and almost hear each other's heartbeat. Marco heard Ace's breath hitch for a moment before he spoke into his ear.

"Since we're sharing, I never got slammed into a headboard before though it was mostly the other way around," he paused, inhaling audibly before continuing. "But don't worry, I would be careful not to hurt you," he finished and slowly moved away from Ace, chancing a glance into his eyes for a short moment before walking away, almost sorry to look away from the utter shock written all over Ace's face. He was definitely looking forward to work on Monday.


	6. Chapter 6

Whether he wanted to or not, Ace had to admit Marco had a knack for turning him on and then leaving his ass stranded. Quite literally, really. It probably wouldn't be as infuriating, had it not been for the small fact that he was clearly doing it on purpose and damn well succeeding at it. Ace wasn't exactly back at square one, but Marco's dramatic exit after such a pickup line was smooth. He didn't really stand a chance to top that. Well, at least not for lack of trying. After all, Ace was still sitting in the same spot at the bar, trying to think of anything but the state of his raging hard-on while Law swung his body from the metal pole on stage.

Sitting in a strip club with a boner was never on Ace's to-do list, yet here he was. And so was Marco. He was lurking about, as far as Ace could see. Either he was really interested in the darkest corners of the club or he was attempting to hide from Izo; Ace was sure the latter was more likely, considering he kept seeing a scowling Izo walking around, scanning the place for Marco, probably. Luckily, Sabo had been too busy behind the bar, so Ace didn't have to suffer through any questions, but he was dreading what would happen next. He wasn't exactly paranoid by nature, but a horrible sense of foreboding was residing in his gut and he was anything but happy because of it.

With a round of cheering, Law's song ended and he jumped off the stage in nothing but a tiny pair of shorts which could hardly even be described as such. Cavendish was already on stage, his song starting along with a new wave of excited cheering. He had always been Ace's favorite, at least for that short while Ace had worked there. Well, it was safe to say he had a thing for blondes.

Law stood a short distance from him, still next to the stage and waving at Ace, beckoning him to an empty booth. Ace went without a second thought, taking his beer with him. Sabo was too busy to talk anyway and, well, Ace wasn't exactly inclined to talk to him in the first place.

As soon as his ass hit the soft bench of the booth, Law was in Ace's lap. It certainly wasn't a first, but that didn't mean it was exactly a normal occurrence.

"Is there a reason you're grinding your behind against my thigh?" Ace asked, not really embarrassed or mad, just... curious. Besides, if Law caught wind of the hard-on he was sporting, Ace would not hear the end of it. Ever. Law had a really bad habit of remembering the most embarrassing things about people and reminding them when it was least convenient. At least for the people involved, he himself had a lot of fun observing the proverbial shipwreck, the sadistic asshole.

"Oh, nothing really," Law replied as he turned his back to Ace, sliding against his chest and grinding his crotch along Ace's thigh. "Just having fun with mister Eustass."

Ace could almost hear the smirk in his voice. He glanced around, spotting the redhead in question next to the exit. If looks could kill, Ace would definitely be a dead man as Kid glared daggers at him. Hell, he looked as if he wanted to rip Ace limb from limb before feeding each and every one to him. It was probably perfectly normal that he was a tiny bit scared for his life.

"Why do you always have to include me in your fun with mister Eustass?" Ace asked, a bit of desperation making its way into his voice. Really, he wished he could say that it was the first time Law had done something of the kind. He also wished he could say for certain that it was the last time, but the possibility of that was very unlikely. He didn't exactly know what kind of relationship those two had and he wasn't very inclined to find out. It was probably better for him not to know, anyway.

"Because I can," Law said, turning once again, this time to face Ace. "Now stop complaining about a free lap dance."

Law did have a point there; it was highly unusual for him not to charge for a lap dance or anything of the kind. Screw unusual, it was downright suspicious.

"You should probably explain it to your boyfriend, though," Law added, smirking again, but never stopping with the grinding. Now, that was an interesting thought, though completely random and Ace needed a moment to figure out what that was about. Well, he still didn't understand what was going on, but it did occur to him that he could ask.

"What boyfriend?"

"That blond guy over there that looks like he wants to break my neck," Law replied, tilting his head in the general direction of said blond. In other words, Marco. Which was interesting, to say the least. Ace had to fight the smirk threatening to break out, but he did succeed eventually. After all, this just helped his situation with Marco. Marco could act as cool and collected as he wanted, but apparently even he had a jealous streak. Ace would be lying if he said it wasn't pleasing, because if what they were doing was a game, Marco would be losing by a mile in that moment.

As they made eye contact for a second, Marco figured it out as well, Ace could see it on his face. Law never ceased his movements, getting more into what he was doing just for a thrill of Kid's jealousy, but Ace couldn't get over the fact Marco was pretty much in the same state. He had to admit, it was a bit satisfying, the fact that someone was infuriated that Law was touching him.

It may have been a bit bad of him, enjoying such a thing, but really, how could he not? Marco's eyes were almost burning at the sight before him and Ace was beyond pleased at this point. So was Law, apparently, and Kid didn't exactly like what he was seeing either. Torn between liking the situation and hating it, Ace stayed seated in his booth with Law grinding against him as if it were the last thing he'd do. Judging by the look Kid was giving him, though, that was highly possible too.

\--0--

Thatch was sitting on a barstool at the end of the bar, his back resting against the wall as Izo sat securely in his lap, watching the spectacle going on just within reach. Izo saw how Marco stared at Ace and what seemed to be a pretty sloppy lap dance. He was only joking before when he told Ace that his brother was getting desperate, but maybe he wasn't that far from the mark. After all, if anyone could keep their emotions under wraps, it was Marco. One that he didn't show very often was desperation, though it seemed to be showing at this display of his coworker with a stripper.

Izo was, simply put, intrigued. If there was one thing he wouldn't miss for the world, it was an opportunity to help Marco get a date. Which was what he needed and definitely wanted with Ace, if he judged from Marco's jealousy stricken face.

"You know you're not exactly subtle, right?" Thatch asked, looking at Marco who still didn't spare them a single glance. He had yet to look away from Ace and it was a fact Izo would put to good use as soon as possible.

"I'm not trying to be subtle," Izo replied, turning to Thatch for a moment. "Don't tell me you can't see what's going on."

Thatch actually laughed at that. "Of course I can see it," he said through his chuckles. "But that doesn't mean you have to get involved." This statement prompted Izo to pout. Who else would get involved and help if not him? Marco was clearly incapable of doing this himself, for whatever reason. He wasn't exactly shy or anything, at least not usually, which meant he didn't need Izo's help. Usually. He decided he would make an exception just this once, seeing as he could.

"I just want to conduct an experiment. If nothing happens, I'll let it go," Izo said, turning his head to give Thatch a quick kiss before turning in his lap and scanning the club.

"What could happen?" Thatch asked skeptically.

"Marco could ask for my help and I will gladly give it to him," Izo replied, side glancing Thatch as he spoke, but returning to looking out into the mass of people. The place looked more like a regular nightclub rather than a stereotypical strip club.

Thatch followed his boyfriend's gaze until it stopped on a muscular redhead dancer. Thatch could have sworn Izo grinned in a manner more devious than he thought him was capable of before he called out to the redhead.

"Wiper!" he yelled, loud enough to be heard over the music.

"Wiper? Really?" Thatch asked. "That's his name?"

Izo ignored him, like usual in such matters, after all Thatch didn't even have permission to be in the club, let alone look at the dancers. In the meantime, the redhead came closer wearing nothing but some pants that looked like they could burst any second. Well, that was kind of the point of the whole place, if he thought about it. Still, Wiper looked kind of scary with the scowl creasing his brow as he stopped before Izo.

"Hey, boss," he said, slight unease in his voice and Thatch assumed he probably thought he was in trouble. "What can I do for you?" It was always interesting seeing Izo's mere presence scare people, especially in the club.

"See that jealous looking blond with the broken arm?" Izo said bluntly, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. When he was sure Wiper located Marco and got a look at him, he continued. "Go there and give him the best lap dance of his life. If he asks, tell him I sent you and Haruta will add a bonus to your paycheck."

The guy was staring at Izo with obvious confusion, his jaw slightly slack, making him look like a fish out of water. At least the scowl was gone.

"Go before he glares a hole into Trafalgar," Izo prompted and he snapped out of it, walking briskly to the other side of the bar. Izo turned in Thatch's lap once again, returning to his previous position. This time, Thatch kissed him on the temple, right where a loose strand of long black hair fell from an otherwise neat braid. Izo smiled at the action, but his eyes remained glued to the scene before him while Thatch observed him as he appeared to be in his element.

Still, he was mildly curious about Marco and the dancer, so he rested his back against the wall, glancing over to the other end of the bar. He was just in time to see Wiper step into Marco's personal space, moving along to the music playing around them. Marco visibly stiffened, his attention snapping to Wiper with a startled yelp; at least that's what Thatch swore it looked like, never mind that he couldn't actually hear anything over the loud music.

Marco's lips moved, presumably to state that he didn't really want a lap dance, which clearly did nothing to deter Wiper. He continued moving while he replied, a fact made clear when Marco turned to them with utter mortification on his face. The look was anything but pleased, yet Izo grinned and the dancer continued his routine, leaving Marco with little to no choice on the matter. He did, in fact, do nothing to change what was going on, leaning back in his seat and seemingly enjoying the free lap dance. His eyes were fixed straight ahead while he smirked what Thatch knew was his cockiest smirk.

Thatch looked in that direction just as Izo did, finding a scarlet freckle covered face set in a scowl. Well, as far as Thatch could see, Izo got the answer to his experiment and if his grin was anything to go by, things went exactly as he wanted them to go. Which wasn't exactly surprising, he had gotten pretty good at things like these since high school, especially when it came to his adopted brothers' affairs.

"You're gonna meddle, aren't you?" Thatch asked, diverting his attention back to Izo seeing as he wasn't interested in Marco getting a lap dance or the jealous look on Ace's face. Izo tilted his head, shifting his eyes to Thatch before he spoke.

"Not sure yet," he said, his lips curling downwards just the tiniest bit, but Thatch noticed anyway. "They might not need my help."

"What do you mean?" Thatch asked, genuinely curious this time.

"Look at them," Izo said, looking back at Marco. "Look at how smug Marco looks. It's the same look Ace was giving him just a minute ago," he spoke, just loud enough for Thatch to hear. "Now look at Ace. He looks just like Marco did before I sent Wiper over there."

Thatch looked just as Izo had told him to and everything he'd just said was completely right. As Thatch looked at them a bit longer, he was starting to notice that their roles seemed to reverse. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but Marco was clearly having fun with the new development and Thatch was fairly certain that whatever was happening, it wasn't new. What was bugging him more, though, was the fact Ace seemed familiar to Thatch the longer he looked.

Well, he didn't dwell on it for too long; after all, staring at other patrons at a strip club was extremely weird and observing Ace's face meant observing Law's ass as well, seeing as he never strayed far from him customer. His barely clothed dick could probably gouge someone's eye out if he wasn't careful with it.

"Are you gonna keep staring at them?" Sabo asked, startling both of them as they didn't even notice him approach from behind the bar. "Cause you look like creepers."

"We're not creepy," Izo replied. "We're just curious." Thatch could verify that that was a load of crap and they were, most likely, really creepy, but decided against voicing it. "And I just want to help," he added.

"They don't need that kind of help," Sabo told them, leaning on the bar to glance at his own brother for a moment. "You can cut the sexual tension between them with a knife, it's only a matter of time before either snaps."

Izo wore his 'I want to meddle' look, but seemed to be debating whether he really should get involved or let things run their course. With one last glance at Marco then Ace, Izo sighed.

"Fine, I'll leave them alone."

\--0--

Law abandoned all pretenses of giving Ace a lap dance and proceeded to rub himself all over Ace man in an attempt to make Kid burst of jealousy. From the looks of it, he was succeeding, but Ace stopped paying attention to either of them in favor of staring another jealousy stricken man down. He was aware of the smirk on his own face and really, how could he not grin. This was a win in his book, no matter how small. It did cross his mind that perhaps he should try flirting with Marco and maybe make progress on that front, but where was the fun in that? Their flirting so far, and yes, Ace was now convinced they'd been flirting since the hospital, was unconventional to say the least. It was, however, fun, albeit slightly frustrating at times.

Ace found himself on the losing side of that little game way too often, if he counted the times Marco managed to fluster him, so Law's little act was for the greater good.

"You know, I really think your mister Eustass is gonna jump me in an alley later," Ace said, chancing a glance towards Kid. Honestly, it was a wonder he managed to stay in place for that long. Law glanced over his shoulder, his hips still moving in rhythm.

"Nah, he's harmless, really," Law said with a sly smirk and Ace didn't really believe him in the slightest. Looking back at Marco, though, Ace found himself surprised. Unpleasantly so, to be exact. While Marco still sat in the same place as before, he now had a new addition to his body. Or so it seemed from the way the half naked dancer got all close and personal. Too close and personal.

Ace narrowed his eyes, he had only looked away for a second, what the hell happened? He knew this was how the dancers made money, but damn, they worked fast. Marco looked a bit taken aback for a moment, not that Ace could blame him, but it was slightly amusing that he looked almost frightened. Noticing just who the dancer was, made Ace laugh because while Wiper may have been the perfect name for a stripper, the man himself wasn't made for work with people. To put it simply, he was scary as hell. The fact he scowled more often than not was a big part of that. He was more suited to be a bouncer with his looks and, with the red hair, he'd fit right in next to Law's mister Eustass. 

He didn't stop laughing because, really, the sight was hilarious when he took Marco's broken arm into account. What wasn't hilarious, however, was the fact Wiper started dancing in much the same way as Law was while Marco finally looked back at Ace. Their eyes met and Marco smirked in the same way Ace knew he had been smirking just moments ago. This continuing streak of the tables turning on him was getting annoying, even if, technically speaking, this time his own 'victory' happened on accident.

Of course, he wasn't jealous. No, surely not, it was all a matter of principle and the fact Marco had that god damn smug smirk on his face. Marco wasn't exactly paying attention to the dancer either, it was all a god damn game to him.

With his eyes narrowed and a newfound determination, Ace decided it was time for a direct approach. He had nothing to lose, after all, he was certain now that there was a mutual attraction between them. Despite the rule that no touching was allowed, Ace placed his hands on Law's hips to steady them and make him stop. He could vaguely see that Eustass wasn't happy with that, but then again, he wasn't happy with anything since Law came close to Ace. Law, on the other hand, stopped and cast a confused glance at Ace. Once he had Law's attention, Ace withdrew his hands for fear he might have them ripped off by an enraged bouncer.

"Okay, I wanna go home alive today, thank you very much," he said, trying to sound serious, but failing as a few chuckles escaped his lips. Law chuckled as well, moving to the side and out of Ace's personal space. "Just, you know, don't let your boy toy sneak up on me." With Law out of the way, Ace reached for his beer and took a sip.

"Fine, fine," Law replied with a roll of his eyes. "And I'm guessing you're going to pry The Python over there from your boyfriend?"

Ace almost choked on his beer, half of it shooting through his nose while he spit out the rest in a rather impressive spray.

"Wha...?"

"I saw him naked in the dressing room once," Law replied with a shrug and a dismissive wave of his hand like he hadn't just made a comment about someone's supposedly impressive dick. That was it, completely done with his Law's antics for the day, Ace rose from his seat with the beer in his hand and without another word, he made his way towards Marco. He was followed by Law's laughter as he realized he would never be able to look at Wiper (or think about his name) without blushing ever again.

Marco, of course, saw him approach. Hell, he probably saw the little spitting show and was undoubtedly amused by it. By the looks of it, Ace amused him more than getting a lap dance did and while he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be the same if the situation was reversed, Ace couldn't help but pout just the slightest.

Marco was observing him the whole time, only averting his eyes for a moment to speak into Wiper's ear. Wiper turned around to glance at Ace for a moment before he nodded and walked away to the other side of the bar. As soon as he was out of range, Ace didn't spare him a second thought.

"Oh, you're still here?" Marco asked with a smirk. Smug bastard.

"Waiting for the end of Sabo's shift," Ace said, going along with the Marco's game of pretending they hadn't been staring at each other for a while there. "And what might you still be doing here? Staring at all these half naked men for too long could be bad for your arm later on," he added, barely keeping the chuckles at bay at the sight of Marco's amused looking face.

"Izo won't let me leave," Marco replied. "And that dancer was pretty... interesting."

"Ah, so you flirt with anyone?" Ace asked, feigning shock. "Well, I must say I'm disappointed, boss," he added the title with a smirk. Marco always gave him a certain look whenever Ace said it and there was something satisfying about it, even if Ace wasn't quite able to put his finger on it. He placed a hand over his heart, mustering the most dramatic look he could before speaking further. "You wound me deeply."

Marco chuckled at the statement, turning towards Ace and crossing his legs.

"Well, I have fallen in a pit of despair as I saw you with another," he spoke, reminding Ace of a medieval knight as he bowed in his seat, the cast of his broken arm pressed against his stomach. He tried hard not to laugh, keeping up the playful charade that he was surprisingly enjoying. Marco was mostly easy to talk to, especially when he wasn't trying to make Ace blush to death. "But you've returned to me and I can try to make amends for my foul deeds." Turning to Sabo, Marco ordered drinks, earning a raised eyebrow from him and, as far as Ace could see from the corner of his eye, a grin from Izo. Thatch seemed to roll his eyes at Izo's excitement, but did nothing else. Marco should have known things would end up like that if Izo met Ace.

"And now you want to get me drunk?" Ace asked with a smirk. "Well, well, never thought you'd play that dirty."

"Whatever do you mean?" Marco asked with a smirk of his own. "My intentions are pure, I assure you." He dropped the act before continuing. "Though, I should ask you what Izo told you before."

Ace grinned as he remembered that, yes, he got a whole abundance of information on Marco. His brother was extremely cooperative even if Ace didn't exactly ask for anything. He'd never admit to being interested most in the story about Marco stripping in the club; thinking about that in public was just an accident waiting to happen, especially if he took the Marco's tattoo into account. Ace came to terms with his tattoo kink years ago, but those fiery wings were a whole category above regular ink. Sure, he felt pretty good about his own tattoos, but he doubted it looked as freaking hot as Marco's.

"Well... where do I start?" he said with a grin, trying to convey just how much he knew about Marco thanks to his brother. "I don't know how much I should believe him. After all, you don't seem as desperate as he claims you are," Ace repeated the first words Izo told him. Even if Marco didn't exactly seem like the poster boy for desperately needing a date, Marco grimaced as soon as the words left Ace's mouth. Maybe Izo was right about something.

"That's because I'm not," Marco stated, though the expression on his face had yet to change. "You really shouldn't believe whatever he's told you."

A grin was all Ace could reply with, eliciting another, albeit milder, grimace from Marco.

"I don't know, he didn't lie about the stripping, now did he?" Ace asked with a sly grin. He really wished he'd seen that. Judging from Marco's groan, it must have been quite a sight.

"That was years ago," he said, rolling his eyes as he clearly relived the event in his head. "I lost a bet, no big deal. I've done worse..." he trailed off as he realized he was giving out more embarrassing info. Ace was rightfully grinning, the only thing missing were sparkles of excitement in his eyes.

"Hm, whatever could you mean by that?" Ace asked with a teasing voice, his eyes staring into nowhere in particular as he faked being deep in thought. He knew perfectly what Marco meant, courtesy of Izo. Though, according to Izo, there was still more. Apparently, Marco had a fairly eventful youth.

"I don't know, what do I mean by that?" Marco narrowed his eyes, his suspicion and skepticism seeping into his words. Izo screwed him over and Marco damn well knew it.

"Well, I mean the boxers, of course," Ace replied all too innocently. "Why? What else is there?" he asked, that picture perfect innocence still evident on his face and he himself knew he was pulling it off. After all, that was the only good thing about the damn freckles, they made him seem innocent. Which, of course, Marco knew he wasn't. At least not in this matter. Still, Marco made no attempt to reveal what else there was, hoping that Ace will never know unless he, unfortunately, already did.

"Right," he said. "Nothing else."

They both took a sip from their drinks, eyes never leaving each other.

"Though, now you do know more about me than I know about you," Marco said after setting his bottle onto the bar. "Maybe I should talk to your brother," he added with a smirk.

Ace chuckled around the tip of the bottle before setting it down as well. "Or, you could, maybe, ask me yourself," he offered and it brought a bit of surprise to Marco's face.

"Very well." Marco grinned as he went over what Ace knew about him. "Let's start with nicknames, as you clearly know my embarrassing one."

"Ah, no, no," Ace started. "We're either turning this into a drinking game or not doing it at all," he said with a grin while waving to Sabo. He didn't seem to actually need the order, already determining what Ace wanted from the look itself. He rolled his eyes in slight annoyance, but still poured them each five shots of freshly opened Jack Daniels. Marco simply observed as the shots were placed in front of him, trying to remember the last time he drank a lot. He couldn't think of an exact date, but he did recall how all of his drinking games usually ended up with something really dumb to show for it. Like a certain nickname.

"Now, you drink for every question you ask. I'll do the same, cause there's no way I don't get to ask questions," Ace said. "Now, you asked so you're taking the first shot and I'll reply. Got it?" he finished with a grin.

"Who's trying to get whom drunk, again?" Marco asked with a teasing undertone, but took the glass anyway and downed its contents. "Now, embarrassing nickname and how you got it."

Ace laughed, taking a few moments to think of an answer. "Okay, I have one," he started, glancing at Sabo who stood behind the bar within earshot, the smirk on his face revealed that much. "Fire Crotch," he said and laughed at the Marco's confused look. Sabo, on the other hand, laughed out loud, even if he still pretended he wasn't listening. "The combination of camping, fire ants and underwear is not one you would like to experience firsthand. Or trying to kill the ants with fire," he added the last part with a side glance towards Sabo with narrow eyes. Marco decided he'd rather not know the details to that story, simply nodding in reply, but still grinning at the new nickname he acquired.

"My turn!" Ace exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "Details to the stripping, if you please."

Marco could honestly say that he had not been expecting that. Maybe the pineapple story or any of his other drunken escapades, but not that. Sure, it wasn't his brightest moment ever, but it wasn't the most embarrassing either. He watched as Ace downed his drink, barely holding the grin back for the short while to drink the shot.

"I lost a bet," Marco started as he turned slightly to the side and pointed to one of the poles. "I went on that stage and stripped to an awfully trashy 80s pop song," he said before glancing back at Ace. "Pole dancing is fucking hard."

"Did you strip all the way?" Ace asked shamelessly, his finger idly tracing the edge of his empty shot glass. Marco smirked that already familiar cocky smirk before answering.

"That's another question," he spoke, his voice low and absolutely teasing. "You better drink another one."

Ace groaned, but downed another drink all the same. Marco laughed, but held his end of the bargain.

"Yes, I did," he said, looking Ace straight in the eyes. "I have never gone commando ever since."

Ace may or may not have muttered 'too bad' at that, but still grinned at how easy the information came.

"Okay, my turn," Marco stated, thinking of a question while his fingers already wrapped around his own shot glass. "While we're on the subject, weirdest situation where you ended up completely naked in front of a lot of people?" He immediately downed his shot, placing the glass to the side while Ace groaned.

"Of all the things..." Ace said, but chuckled nonetheless. "Okay, skinny dipping in a hotel pool at a tattoo seminar two years ago."

Marco cocked his eyebrow. "I don't get how that's weird."

"There was a wedding going on in the restaurant overlooking the pool."

At least Ace had the decency to blush even if he was chuckling at the memory. He looked up at Marco as a shot glass made its way into his hand.

"I think the whole Hancock thing warrants an explanation," Ace said and it was Marco's turn to groan while Ace downed his drink. Marco was actually surprised at how well Ace was taking all the drinks.

"I don't have one," Marco said, knowing it wouldn't be that easy to get out of answering, despite his statement being true. Ace, as expected, narrowed his eyes, but didn't press further.

"Fine, then you drink another one and it's your turn," he said, waiting for Marco to finish his drink. It was a bit suspicious, but he did as Ace asked before taking another glass into his hand as it was his turn to ask the next question.

It was getting harder to pick out questions, but as he only had two shots left, Marco figured he'd better make them worth it. "Biggest kink?" he said and watched with amusement as Ace almost choked on the beer he was still sipping between questions. Mixing alcohol wasn't exactly a good idea, but Ace seemed to be taking it fairly well, so Marco didn't feel inclined to comment.

Ace sighed at first, but grinned as he realized it could be a good think to voice this particular bit of information. "Tattoos," he simply said then observed as Marco's face turned slightly surprised before morphing into a grin. "While we're on _that_ subject, tell me about your tattoo."

Marco cocked his eyebrow again. "Which one?" Not exactly the answer Ace was expecting.

"The wings," he said, but filing away the information that there were more tattoos that Ace had yet to see.

Marco nodded, a soft smile stretching his lips. "Robin made it six years ago and it was the reason I took her as a partner for the parlor. She won a competition with it, it was entirely her design and she did all the inking herself in record time. I swear, she has five sets of hands when she works," he finished and Ace smiled as well. Robin's reputation, as well as Marco's, was sky high in the city, their parlor one of the most famous places to go for body modifications. He was lost in thought for a short moment before taking a hold of his last full glass.

"My turn again," Marco stated, grinning a slightly lecherous grin. He downed his shot before speaking. "What would you do if I tried to kiss you right now?"

Ace sat still, eyes glued to Marco's face and the interestingly arousing grin stretching those lips. He still had one question that he could use to get to the bottom of this sudden inquiry. However, a different thought invaded his mind and he grinned for a moment before placing his hand on the bar next to Marco. He pulled himself off the chair and slid right into Marco's personal space. Ace was getting closer to him, thankful that Marco didn't move at all, just observed with curiosity and a hint of something Ace didn't think to identify at the moment.

Their lips were a almost touching, their alcohol tainted breaths mingling as Ace lifted his other hand to the nape of Marco's neck. Marco saw Ace close his eyes and followed suit, but Ace didn't move. Instead, he whispered, his breath tickling Marco's lips.

"Two can play this game."

He moved away as if nothing happened at all, smirking at the confusion on Marco's face before downing his last drink.

"I'm keeping my question for later," he said with a smug smirk before walking to the exit, only stopping for a moment to speak over his shoulder.

"See you on Monday, boss." 


	7. Chapter 7

As far as favorite days go, Monday was nowhere near the top of Ace's list, but for once waking up on a Monday didn't feel like pulling teeth. Well, okay, the actual waking up was a bit problematic, but no more than usual. Even less, actually, considering Luffy had called and begged to have one more day with Garpie. Since it meant Ace would get another morning free of waking to a doggie butt on his pillow, he wholeheartedly agreed to the plea. Not that he could actually deny Luffy anything, really.

Still, Ace was almost vibrating with excitement in anticipation to further developments with Marco. They finally moved from square one considering there had been actual flirting involved and, Ace was proud to admit, he got himself a dramatic exit as well. Sure, he had to wait for Sabo in front of the club since he was there to pick him up in the first place, but whatever.

So with the third week of his employment ending with satisfying results, Ace was no longer sure how he felt about the fact he only had three shorts weeks of working with Marco left. What he was sure about was the continuation of his Marco related frustrations; if anything, the man would not be deterred by Ace's victory and he had a whole weekend to think about what to do next. Granted, Ace had the same luxury, but saying he had used his time wisely would be a blatant lie. In fact, he did jack shit. Other than patting himself on the back for finally being suave with in an interaction with Marco.

It was bound to happen, of course. He knew all along that things wouldn't continue pathetically, it was all totally on purpose. Which is why he had completely ignored all questions related to Marco that Sabo threw at him throughout the weekend. From that perspective, the weekend had been  torturously slow and long. Sabo wanted to know a lot of things that Ace didn't want to or didn't know how to answer. Some of the inquiries were covered by both categories and Ace honestly had no idea how Sabo would come up with those. It was starting to show he had worked at the club for a while too long, it seemed. Not that Ace minded in the slightest since Sabo needed to loosen up a bit.

Ace did, however, decide on something that did resemble a course of action if one were to squint real hard. It was by far one of his dumbest plans to get a date, but if it worked, he was willing to swallow his pride. All jokes aside, Marco was awesome. Not that he'd tell the man if he continued making Ace tongue tied and whatnot. That just wasn't acceptable.  

So with somewhat renewed vigor for a Monday morning, Ace got up and dressed for the day. Just for a while, he put aside the thoughts of how he was acting odd concerning the whole thing with Marco. After all, he was a professional and he had work which was more important anyway. Usually, he'd take his time to make breakfast and all, but this once Ace took a quick shower and dressed with astounding speed, leaving the apartment in a flash. Not that he was late for work or anything, he just did his best to avoid Sabo in any way he possibly could. He had always been too nosey for his own good, something that seemed to intensify over the course of the past weekend and Ace strongly suspected it was connected to Sabo's boss.

Someone was bound to notice something off about him as he found himself at the parlor doors just as Robin was unlocking them with Marco in tow. Ace didn't appear for work this early very often in his three weeks of working there, after all. Not that he really had to either, but apparently it couldn't hurt as he noticed Robin smiling at him mysteriously as she prepared the coffee machine. He was about to retreat to his room and start preparations for the day when he heard Marco call his name.

A sinful sound, that was. Or Ace may have imagined it. It didn't make a difference, really, as he was dazed for a moment and Robin surely noticed. Still, he pulled himself together and entered the office just as Robin left it with the soft hum of the coffee maker in her wake.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting Marco to do, honestly. The situation could escalate either way after their little flirting session only a short few days before and Ace knew it, though he also knew that he wouldn't be the one starting it this time. It was all part of his plan.

Marco motioned for him to sit in Robin's chair and Ace did so without complaint or comment, a reaction that warranted slight surprise with hints of amusement from Marco. Of course Ace noticed, he wasn't blind, though his plan felt like it was slipping from him at the implications of what kind of effect a bit of submission would have. Filing that under things to find out on another occasion, Ace waited with trepidation for Marco to speak. Or maybe jump him right there in Robin's chair. Giving importance to the fact it was Robin's chair made him realize how kinky that thought was.

"I was going through your appointments for the day," Marco started in his professional tone leaving no room for teasing or flirting and Ace straightened, knowing when to draw a line between work and the thing between them. "You have two piercings first, nothing complicated," he continued, but trailed off as he seemed to remember something before rummaging through his desk drawers, "but you have a big appointment after that and it'll take a really big chunk of your day," Marco finished as he fished out a binder out of his drawer.

"Well, almost all of your shift probably," Marco said after Ace nodded in reply. "After seeing your works, I don't think blackwork should be a problem," Marco said it with a questioning glance, giving Ace an opportunity to say whether he thought he could do it or not.

"No, it's good, I've done it before," he said, waiting for more details. "Tell me more."

Marco gave him an appraising look for a moment before smirking and pulling out a few papers out of the binder. Spreading them out on the desk, Ace leaned over to take a better look while Marco spoke.

"You'll be doing full sleeves," he started, pointing at the ink drawings between them. "One of them is smaller because there's a tattoo on his shoulder already so you have to blend this one with the one already there."

Ace registered the words and understood them just fine, but his attention was fully on the drawings in front of him. If he had to choose a favorite style in his work, he'd have a hard time choosing between blackwork and old school style tattoos, but it would definitely be one of the two. Especially if the former always looked like the ones laid out in front of him. He had done only a few before, not counting the countless designs he drew on paper, but Ace was sure only one could compare to Marco's talent and that would be the one Sabo did for him.

After admiring the man's talent for a while now, Ace could immediately recognize the drawings as Marco's. They showed the two sleeve tattoos from all sides with close-ups of the more detailed elements. The shorter one reminded him of a maze, circular in shape with solid black lines leading to the center of the circle that held a small jolly roger. Well, it looked like a jolly roger to Ace considering it was a skull, but with swords crossed under it instead of bones. The rest of the sleeve, the part under the maze-like structure, was constructed from similar black lines. These were smaller and set closer together with shapes made of small dots between the solid black.

Well, he could see why this will definitely take up most of his day. As if remembering that Marco said he was making sleeves, Ace glanced to the other paper to look at the other tattoo. This one was longer, meant to conceal the whole arm and shoulder. The prep drawing was a bit off, considering it had to be cut in the middle to be able to apply it to someone's arm, but Ace could see the stunning detail work on it before he even reached for the third paper that held the actual art.

Doing everything possible to keep himself from gasping, Ace held the white paper and stared at the image. Glancing at the transfer paper for reference, he could see how the tattoo would be positioned on the arm. Starting at the bottom, the image began with a thick solid black stripe going around the wrist. The upper line was bumpy, forming the roots and rocky ground before continuing up as a silhouette of a slim tree trunk with an occasional shadow of ivy clinging to it. Ace had to strain his eyes to even notice the little bumps, knowing he'd need the thinnest needle to pull those off. The tree continued fairly straight up the forearm for a few inches before shifting to the outer side of the arm and coiling around it just under the elbow to come back to the front over it and across the bicep where it branches out. The branches and leaves, designed to cover part of the bicep, the shoulder and partially the shoulder blade, aren't made as a solid black surface. Instead, the branches form a delicate yet thick net covered by leaves with just the tiniest patches where the paper is visible.

Ace recognized it as the tree of life, set on a background of thin delicate lines arranged in a pattern resembling a shower of rain combined with swirls of wind with solid silhouettes of birds circling the tree. The amount of detail was astounding and Ace felt admiration surge through his mind once again, reminding him why he even admired Marco in the first place. It also reminded him that he would be the one to ink this onto someone's arms. Ace could admit he was terrified of that prospect, but also thrilled that he would be part of one of Marco's masterpieces. Hancock's jolly roger seemed like a cheap tattoo one might find in bubble gum wrappers compared to this one, he thought with a chuckle.

"You think you can do this?" Marco asked and while the question might have been worded in a way that sounded as if Ace couldn't do it, Marco's voice held no malice. He simply wanted to know whether Ace had any doubts and if he did, Robin would probably take over. Still, Ace wanted to do this. Not only was it an amazing opportunity, it was also a great way to work with Marco. The man may have been an ass with the constant teasing, but not many got the opportunity to work with his art.

"I think I can," he replied with a grin, finally looking up and meeting Marco's eyes. Marco was grinning back, clearly satisfied that Ace accepted this particular assignment and, for a moment, that familiar teasing glint appeared in his eye. Ace was half expecting something as they stared at each other in silence, but the moment was shattered as Robin returned to the office.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked as she poured herself some coffee. Ace turned to her with the intention of saying that no, she wasn't, but the smile on her face stopped him in his tracks. He already got used to that little smile that bordered on a knowing smirk, but he never really came to terms whether it was just a bluff or she actually did know something.

"No, I was just showing Ace what he'll be doing today," Marco replied smoothly, prompting Ace to look his way. He noticed that, while sounding collected, Marco seemed somewhat skeptical in much the same way Ace was feeling. Damn, Robin was scary even when she wasn't doing anything more than stirring her coffee, especially with the knowing look she was giving Marco. A chill rand down Ace's spine as he eyed the stand-off, but remained silent.

The chime of the parlor door followed by Usopp's less than enthusiastic greeting was a blessing in disguise, breaking the weird atmosphere in the office. Ace was prompted into grabbing a cup of coffee for himself while Robin took the seat he vacated only moments before. Usopp joined them in the office, slumping in the chair by the door as he looked like he was half asleep. Ace learned quickly that Usopp was in no way a morning person and it was really funny most times.

The four sat, or in Ace's case stood, in the office for a while longer, a silence settling around them. It was still a short while before the start of their work day and relaxing for a few minutes more wouldn't hurt. Especially for Ace, who couldn't take his mind off the work waiting for him. He was excited, though, considering Marco trusted him with such a big job.

It was a few more silent minutes before Usopp stirred and dragged himself out of the chair, resembling a zombie as he did so, while Marco and Robin chuckled at the sight, even if it was one they saw every morning. Robin followed short after, gathering her cup and walking out with the mention of tidying up a bit before the first customer thus successfully leaving Ace alone with Marco.

They both sipped at their coffee in relative silence, the clacking of keys from Usopp's computer the only thing disturbing the peace. Ace took a longer drag from his cup, closing his eyes for a moment as he savored the hot liquid on his tongue. Lowering the cup from his lips and opening his eyes, however, he almost spit the coffee right into Marco's face that was suddenly way closer than it had been when Ace closed his eyes in the first place. How the hell he moved so fast was a mystery Ace would probably never resolve, though.

"Marco?" he sputtered, searching Marco's face for whatever it was he wanted and promptly ignoring the heat rising to his own face.

"Hm?" Marco hummed, his lips curling into an all too innocent smile that sent a shiver down Ace's spine. A really embarrassing shiver, really.

"What are you doing?" He didn't like the way his voice wavered in the slightest, but no way to take that back. Especially not with the way Marco reached between them, taking the cup from Ace's hand and setting it down next to Ace. Leave it to Marco to be all smooth and suave even with only usable arm.

"I believe this could be considered payback," he whispered and Ace felt his breath tickle his skin. "If you want to look at it that way, anyway," he added with a hum as his face inched dangerously close to Ace's. Marco's uninjured arm snaked around Ace, the hand resting against his hip, but not quite touching. Just like their lips.

"Now why would you need payback?" Ace asked, gathering what little was left of his wits and at least attempting to play along. Smirking as the words left his mouth, Ace's inspiration hit full force. "Did I do something bad, boss?" he asked with a slight pout, making sure his eyes darted to Marco's lips for a brief moment before returning his gaze to Marco's eyes.

With a lot of satisfaction, that probably reflected in his widening smirk, Ace noted that Marco was a bit thrown off by the sudden change. Growing bolder, Ace hooked his index finger through a belt loop on Marco's jeans, holding him in place as he tilted his head. It was his intention to look like he wanted to kiss for a moment before leaning in to Marco's ear.

"Do you want me to do something bad?" he asked in a whisper. "To you?" Ace added with a smirk, hooking his other index finger through another belt loop just to put more weight on his question. The part where he pulled Marco a bit closer by those same belt loops until they were touching was purely accidental, of course, but also very distracting and Ace knew immediately that he completely screwed himself over. He couldn't keep the upper hand if Marco's soft breathing against his neck was starting to give him a boner. Well, a boner wouldn't be all that bad in itself, but with the way they were pressed together, Marco would feel every embarrassingly hard inch. If it came to that, that is.

Marco must have felt a shift in Ace's resolve, at least that was what Ace concluded when Marco chuckled in his ear without the slight hesitation he displayed a moment ago. Shit, he was screwed and he knew it now. With his back pressed to the counter behind him and Marco's weight keeping him there, Ace had no way to escape. The ominous sound of Marco's amusement was at the same time a foreshadowing of something bad, at least for him, yet also very arousing. A voice should not be that sexy, especially considering Marco had yet to speak. Getting hard just from a chuckle would be embarrassing.

"Maybe I want to do something _bad_ to you~" Marco all but purred and, dear lord, the sound shouldn't have been so maddeningly inviting. Jumping his boss at work with the door to the office wide open and Usopp just mere meters away wasn't even in the realm of a good idea, but it was beginning to seem like an unavoidable outcome to their current situation. Especially with Marco getting into the zone of entirely melting his brain with his voice alone. "I don't think you'd mind any of it, would you?" Marco continued and no, Ace wouldn't mind anything at the moment, he wouldn't mind at all, damn him to hell. Of course he wouldn't say it out loud for fear of Marco's ego bursting, but the stirring in his pants was probably more that answer enough.

Ace glanced sideways into the direction of Marco's eyes, sincerely hoping he wasn't blushing too much, but dammit, it was hard not to think how good Marco undoubtedly was at talking dirty. With a voice like that, he could probably make Ace come just by reciting his damn grocery list. Marco glanced at him as well, making sure Ace saw the smirk on his face as he continued speaking.

"I can think of a few things right now," he said, low enough for Ace to hear, but not risking Usopp hearing it as well, though if he hadn't noticed anything going on yet, he probably wouldn't at all. "I bet you'd love-"

The sound of the bell above the door and Usopp's voice greeting someone cut off whatever it was Marco wanted to say, successfully breaking the spell. Ace's hands fell from the belt loops of Marco's pants and Marco stepped back with a displeased look. Usopp peeked into the office just in time for them to look decent once again.

"Ace, your first appointment's here," he said, casting a slightly skeptical glance at Marco, but making no attempt to comment the strange air in the room.

"Okay, I'm coming," Ace replied and caught a smirk appearing on Marco's face, realizing the double meaning of his words. Usopp, luckily, didn't as he nodded and stepped back out of sight. Being practically alone with Marco once again was awkward, though, and he had no idea what to say. Marco must have been rattled as well or so Ace hoped as Marco stepped back towards his seat. Anything Ace might have said was stopped by Marco's voice, this time louder and less intimate, but still meant to be heard by just the two of them.

"I think your coffee got cold," he smirked around his words, daring Ace to comment on what transpired or simply waiting to see how flustered he was.

"I'm sure it's fine," Ace replied and smiled at his boss, determined not to show how affected he actually was. Sure, he was aware they might have been dumbasses, but whatever. They definitely started treading on thin ice here. He took the previously discarded cup of now lukewarm coffee and downed it.

Suddenly turning professional again, Marco spoke.

"You should go, someone's waiting for you," he told him sternly. "I'll bring you these when you're done." Marco collected the drawings they were looking through before.

Ace only nodded, clearing his head from the previous haze in favor of doing his job properly. Without another word, he left the office and into his room where the first client of the day was waiting for him.

Just as Marco had said, the first two appointments of the day, one septum piercing and snake bite lip piercings, were easy and done with before he even got to think about it. He was in the middle of cleaning up and throwing away the needles he used into the biohazard bin when Marco opened the door.

"Hey," he said as he entered the room, leaving the door open. "You've got fifteen more minutes. Here's the prep work and the transfer paper," Marco said as he set all the papers on the desk closest to the chair before digging through the overhead cabinet. "You're gonna need these too," he added, handing Ace the needles for this type of work. "I already drew everything on separate pieces of transfer paper so you don't have to do that, it should cut your work time."

"That's great," Ace said with a smile. "It'd take me forever to transfer all that detail." He chuckled, knowing he drew designs just as complicated before, but it just didn't seem right working with someone else's masterpiece. "You know, if you'd rather do a big commission like this yourself when your arm heals..." Ace trailed off, sure that Marco got his drift.

"It's okay, I don't mind you inking this instead of me," he replied, his voice devoid of all the usual teasing tones. "I can't and I don't think you'd screw it up."

To Ace, that sounded like a compliment and he grinned, something that didn't slip past Marco. However, their usual teasing was absent and neither tried to start something for once.

"You gonna stay here while I work?" he asked, moving around the room and gathering the items he would need for the job. Specifically, large quantities of black ink and ointment. Really, it's been too long since he's done blackwork and Ace only now realized that he missed it a bit. People rarely asked for it considering it consisted of large black surfaces that were generally hard to hide and not that many people wanted visible tattoos. The usual opinion was that only tattoo artists would consider those and, while Ace did have one, it wasn't exactly in a visible place.

"I think I'll just stay to explain why I'm not doing it and maybe come back later to see how it looks," Marco told him, sitting on the desk next to his drawings while he waited. "I've been meaning to ask you," he started, staring at Ace until he nodded for the blond to continue. "Why did you tell Hancock she had to come back in a few weeks to finish her tattoo?"

Ace's eyes widened at the question as he, honestly, let Hancock slip his mind what with all the shameless flirting and sexual tension. It was true, however, that he may have bent the truth a bit when he told her she needed to come again to get the purple parts done. While, long term, that had been a pretty poor decision, at that moment it seemed like a good decision.

"I..." Ace started, momentarily unable to come up with a way to word his reasoning. "I couldn't put up with her anymore," he finally finished with a sheepish look on his face, something akin to puppy eyes appearing on his face as he hoped Marco wouldn't fire him for it. Even if Marco went along with it back then like he was in on the plan from the start. "Sorry," he offered. "I will finish it, I promise!"

Marco chuckled in understanding, because really, he knew very well what Hancock was like sometimes. While she was an interesting woman, her attitude towards most men was, well, borderline deadly.

"Why'd you go along with it, though?" Ace had to ask, while they were still under a sort of truce and not flinging flirtations at each other or doing anything more like earlier in the office. Ace found it unusual, thought hardly bad; after all, they were talking. The topic wasn't exactly the greatest, but he'd have to work with what he got.

Shrugging in reply as he seemed to mull over it before smiling, Marco offered a simple answer. "I thought it might be something like that, honestly." He chuckled at Ace's incredulous look. "What? I know she can be a bit... overwhelming."

"Yeah, that's putting it lightly," Ace scoffed. "She keeps going on about my brother."

Marco's laughter was contagious and their chuckling sounded through the room, drawing both Robin and Usopp into investigating. They didn't get a coherent answer due to all the random laughing, but the madness came to a sudden stop as the bell above the door chimed. Usopp was first out there, greeting whomever it was that entered the shop. Robin retreated with a knowing smile and Ace decided not to touch that with a ten foot pole as long as he didn't have to while Marco evened his breath and avoided eye contact with Ace in an attempt to prevent another random fit of giggles. Almost like they were five years old and didn't really know why they were laughing in the first place.

"Aw, Ace, are you gonna strangle me for not coming to you with this?"

The voice definitely not belonging to Usopp drew Ace's attention to the open door and a grin appeared on his face despite being confused for a moment.

"Zoro?" he said in disbelief, but it turned into smug pride in a matter of seconds. "Told you that you can't stop after you get the first one."

Zoro laughed from the doorway, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly in what Ace knew was his way of silently agreeing with him. After all, the last time Ace worked on Zoro or his shoulder tattoo, more specifically, he hadn't been that into ink in the first place.

"So what are you doing here?" Zoro asked, glancing around and noticing Marco for the first time. Marco stood from his spot, but stayed quiet during Ace's exchange with their client.

"I'm Marco's replacement because as you can see, he can't work," Ace said with a swift glance at his boss. "So I'm going to ink you," he finished with a grin, one laced with a wicked gleam. Sure, it was only pretend to scare Zoro a bit, but he didn't need to know that just yet. Zoro wasn't usually easy to scare, but obviously he felt bad for not going to Ace in the first place. He grimaced at the expression on Ace's face for a moment before speaking.

"That's great," he said. "Well, obviously not great that you broke your arm," he said quickly, glancing at Marco, "but you're gonna expand the tattoo you made."

"You two clearly know each other so I guess that makes things easier," Marco said curtly, putting a stop to the conversation. "Ace has everything and if you don't mind him doing this instead of me, I'll leave you to it."

Ace noted a slight shift in Marco's behavior, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He may have suggested jealousy as an option, but there was no glaring involved like there had been with Law. With a shrug, Zoro moved into the room.

"Sure, I don't mind," he said, shrugging off his black button-up, revealing a grey T-shirt, and draping it over Ace's stool next to the chair reserved for him. "As long as he doesn't tattoo a dick on my arm."

Marco laughed, sounding a bit forced to Ace, thought it may have been his imagination. Or wishful thinking, really, considering how sappy he was turning.

"That's up to him," Marco said simply. "I'll come back later to see how it looks and to make sure you take a short break." With that he was gone, closing the door behind him.

Ace let his thoughts and confusions lay forgotten as soon as Marco closed the door, focusing on the task at hand instead. Ordering Zoro to lose the shirt as he put on a pair of latex gloves, Ace settled on his stool and pulled the small table with the supplies closer to himself and the chair Zoro was sitting in.

"Let's do this," he said cheerfully, letting his good mood transfer to Zoro. "No dicks, I promise," he added for good measure before spreading the ointment onto Zoro's bicep and picking up the first piece of Marco's masterpiece.


	8. Chapter 8

Sitting at his desk in the office, Marco lifted his gaze from the paperwork he was going through and noticed how dark it was outside. The work day had clearly ended, though he couldn't remember when the others left. They must have, considering the only light in the parlor came from his desk lamp, bathing a small circle of space around him in warm yellow light. He was all alone without any idea about how it had happened. It was confusing for a moment until he heard music playing somewhere in the parlor. It sounded oddly familiar and he stood from his chair, trying to locate the source of the music.

As soon as he left the office, the light was left behind and Marco moved through the front room, next to the empty front desk. The place wasn't big and there were only so many places the music could be coming from, but he was almost certain it wasn't coming from Robin's work room. There was no light coming through the frosted glass door of her room, but his own, or actually, Ace's work room was illuminated by a soft light breaching the blurry glass of the door.

Marco stood before it for a moment, staring at the light while trying to recognize the music instead of figuring out why Ace might still be there after dark. Hell, he could have tried to figure out why he was still there after dark even if he wasn’t exactly doing anything of importance. Still, the music seemed to be the first thing on his mind in the moment as well as finding out what Ace was up to.

Slowly, he grasped the doorknob and opened the door to his own work room. The music grew louder without the barrier between him and the room, and he recognised it immediately as it was his music library on the laptop in the room. Marco didn’t get to dwell on it for long, however, as Ace’s voice sounded over the song.

“Finally you’re here,” he said and Marco turned to the chair usually reserved for their customers, but this time served for Ace to sprawl over it. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Marco gulped, his eyes growing wide at the teasing tone in Ace’s voice. Ace was fully clothed and, really, there was nothing improper about him, but Marco really couldn’t help the way his mind immediately went to the gutter. Ace was sprawled over the soft leather of the chair, his head resting on his hands and his legs stretched out. His shirt was riding up just a tiny bit from the way his arms were lifted, but it was just enough to reveal a sliver of skin just above the waistline of Ace’s pants.

Ace was smiling at him while Marco stood frozen in place, completely at a loss for words. This seemed to be a step further from their usual banter and teasing, but what surprised Marco was that it hadn’t been his doing. Ace didn’t seem deterred in the slightest, sitting up with a smile and hopping off the chair. Marco had enough presence of mind to shut the door, no matter that they were alone in the place. Ace was still smiling as he approached him, though the gentle curve of his lips turned absolutely devious as he got closer. It was the same smile Ace would give him before uttering something filthy to get under his skin or a short while ago in the club when the verbal banter turned more physical.

“Are you just going to stand by the door, boss?” Ace asked, the smile morphing into a smirk as they finally stood within touching distance. Of course, Ace took the opportunity to touch, his fingers brushing gently over Marco’s hand and up his arm. “I thought you’d let me admire that tattoo of yours up close and personal.” Ace spoke softly, his face leaning close enough to tickle Marco’s skin with his tantalizingly warm breath.

Even if he wanted to stay away, Marco was sure he couldn’t anymore. Ace broke first, he gave in to the constant teasing and Marco couldn’t find it in himself to fight it, no matter that they still had to work together for two more weeks. What could go wrong, after all?

With some reluctance left, Marco lifted his hand and slid it against Ace’s neck, tangling his fingers into dark strands. Ace’s smile was one of victory as Marco leaned in and kissed him. After four long weeks of teasing and torturous touching, finally getting the opportunity to kiss Ace was like drinking water after days in the desert. It was as if a dam had broken, flushing his restraint and any semblance of second thought away. Ace’s hands found their way around Marco’s waist, pulling him closer as their lips moved together. Marco could do nothing save for tangling his other hand into Ace’s hair to keep him there, as if he was planning on letting go and leaving him there.

Slowly, Ace stepped back, but his lips never left Marco’s, hands pulling him along towards the chair Ace had vacated only moments before. It was only when the back of Ace’s thighs met the soft chair that they parted, their eyes locked for a moment of stunned silence. Even if Marco had wanted this for a awhile now, it still came as a slight shock.

Ace seemed to be the first to gather his wits, his grip on Marco’s waist tightening just the tiniest bit before Ace spun him around and pushed him down on the chair. Marco didn’t protest at the turn of events, really, why should he, as Ace grinned down at him. The sight was highly addictive, in Marco’s humble opinion. He didn’t get to enjoy it for long, however, as Ace’s hands came to rest on his chest before pushing him down until his back met the soft surface of the chair.

Marco stayed still, his arms draped loosely around Ace’s neck as Ace caressed across Marco’s chest for a moment before reaching for the buttons, popping them one by one in a maddeningly slow pace. Still, Ace did show some mercy as he leaned down, his lips latching onto Marco’s collarbone as soon as it was uncovered. The last remnants of reluctance flew out the window at the motion, Marco’s grip tightening around Ace’s neck, his fingers once again tangling into soft dark hair. It was at this point that Marco came to terms with the fact this was happening and there was no turning back. Sure, he wanted this just as much as Ace clearly did, but, until minutes ago, he was convinced not to make a move while Ace still worked for him.

Clearly, that whole deal wasn’t even an option anymore. Their position was very compromising and Marco knew that, even if they were to stop immediately, it was already too late to turn back. Ace hummed against his skin as Marco’s grip on Ace's hair tightened on instinct, finally entirely sure he didn’t want to let go. Ace’s hands were busy with the buttons, but no matter how impatient Ace seemed every now and then, his fingers continued at the same leisurely pace.

One button at a time, Marco’s shirt was undone and slid from his chest, leaving it bare for Ace’s lips that continued its path downward towards the waistband of Marco’s pants. His hands slid to Marco’s sides, under the unbuttoned shirt, caressing the smooth tattooed skin as Ace kissed his way around Marco’s navel and towards the inked feathers peeking out over his hip bones. Ace’s tattoo kink was becoming more evident to Marco and he couldn’t say he minded much, courtesy of the way Ace’s lips felt on the tattooed skin, grazing and licking over each line.

Marco remained silent, at least as far as words were concerned, knowing that they would only cheapen the moment and ruin the magic of Ace’s lips on him. He had no concerns nor qualms about letting Ace do as he pleased, completely convinced it could bring him nothing but pleasure. The thought was only proved to be true as Ace’s fingers caressed his skin before popping the button on his jeans and undoing the zipper with an obscenely loud sound. He could almost hear the smirk on Ace’s lips before he dove down, mouthing over the waistband of his boxers, leaving nothing but a burning trail in his wake.

He let a moan slip past his lips, his grip on Ace’s hair tightening for a moment before he let go, allowing Ace to move lower, almost costing Marco his sanity. His tongue darted out, swiping over the outline of Marco’s embarrassingly hard cock straining against the fabric.

Things were moving too fast, yet not fast enough at the same time. Ace’s mouth was right there, his tongue peeking out and swiping over the fabric of Marco’s underwear, but he made no move to quicken his pace or to move further. It was maddening and infuriating, but Marco was hardly able to voice any complaints. At this point, the complaints would be regarding the speed of what Ace was doing and not about what was actually happening, but that was neither here nor there. All Marco was able to think about was the way Ace’s hands moved gently up and down his sides, stroking the tattooed skin as if it were sacred. He seemed to indulge himself for a moment longer before he leaned back and took a long appraising look. Marco could feel his skin burn under the gaze, the fire in Ace’s eyes almost devouring him whole making Marco swallow down the pleas for Ace to hurry.

There was no real rush, they had all the time they wished for, but Marco was starting to doubt the decision of doing this in the parlor. The chair he was sprawled on was hardly comfortable and big enough, not to mention how it would bring back compromising memories whenever Marco looked at it, even without actually doing anything substantial on it yet. Though, even with the lack of common sense, Marco could deduce what it was leading up to.

Ace’s fingers dipped into Marco’s unbuttoned pants, stroking along the seams of his boxers as the fingers traveled lower, pushing his jeans down his thighs. To Marco’s utter annoyance, Ace was still completely dressed and it wasn’t likely that that would change anytime soon, but he felt the fight leave him with the jeans Ace dragged down his legs and discarded on the floor.

It was truly a sight to behold as Ace’s tongue peeked out, licking over his upper lip as his eyes never left the bulge in Marco’s boxers. Meanwhile, Marco lay on his own tattoo chair, bare chested and clad in nothing but a pair of generously soaked boxers, barely keeping his breathing in check. Ace’s hands were gentle as they settled on Marco’s knees, stroking soft circles over his skin before pushing Marco’s legs apart. Marco had decided he wouldn’t actively expect anything, but it still came as a surprise when Ace sank to his knees, his hands stroking lazily across Marco’s thighs.

He supported himself on his elbows to be able to look at Ace and, as far as Marco was concerned, that was his best decision that evening. Ace was looking at him through his lashes, a smirk settled comfortably on his freckled face and Marco found it was a sight he didn’t mind getting used to.

“Eager, are we, boss?” Ace purred and it was enough to remind Marco that, no matter how arousing, Ace also had a sassy mouth and a knack to tease. Marco, in particular, as it would seem, but at the moment he couldn’t honestly say he minded much.

He could only moan in reply as Ace didn’t give him much time to use words as he mouthed over the bulge again. It took almost all of his willpower to remain perched on his elbows with a great view of Ace’s teeth baring to latch onto the hem of his boxers for a moment, his eyes flashing to Marco’s face before he pulled the garment down. It was a maddeningly slow motion, the faintest scrape of teeth along his shaft sending a shiver through him. Ace was thoroughly enjoying what he was doing, Marco could see it clearly as he finally heard the boxers rustle to the ground.

Ace was back between his legs as if he had never left, his hands stroking up Marco’s thighs before them settling on his hips. Marco could feel puffs of Ace’s hot breath on his cock, barely holding in the moans threatening to escape his lips from such a minimum amount of contact. His struggle seemed to amuse Ace and spur him further, making him prolong the torture. It may not have been actual torture, but as every moment passed with Ace’s lips hovering over him without touching, Marco felt like he might lose his mind entirely. Maybe he had already, it was hard to tell at this point and he couldn’t say he particularly cared as Ace finally grazed his length with his lip.

He wasn’t able to hold back the moan this time, his arms trembling wildly as he struggled to stay in that position. Ace finally smirked one more time before his tongue dragged up Marco’s shaft, successfully cutting off any and all rational thought Marco was still able to produce. He was lost in a flurry of sensations, all of them revolving around Ace’s mouth and how he was using it to drive Marco mad before making him want to cry out and beg for more.

Whether he actually begged or not, Marco couldn’t say for sure nor did he particularly care for once. Dignity wasn’t on the agenda while Ace’s hands held his hips tight, pressed against the smooth leather of the chair he himself picked years before without having such activities in mind. Well, that would clearly change as Marco knew he would never again be able to look at that chair with innocent thoughts in mind.

Blunt nails dug into his skin and at last his strength left his arms, his back connecting with the leather chair. The smooth cold surface only gave him solace with cooling his skin for a short moment before Ace’s tongue sent waves of heat through him again. Even if he yearned to strip Ace, reveal every inch of his skin and whatever ink lay hidden, Marco found it hard to concentrate as the heat pooling in him intensified. He was getting closer with each shift of Ace’s lips on his skin, each graze of teeth against him and he couldn’t even figure out how long it had lasted.

In a futile attempt to ground himself as shivers racked through him, Marco lifted his arms above his head, aiming for anything he could hold on to. There was no assurance it would actually help, but it was really hard to think straight and grasping at anything other than Ace seemed like a sound idea. His left hand wrapped around an arm rest, his right following soon after and with a jolt, Marco opened his eyes. His arm was burning with pain as he panted in the darkness of his room, the covers around him in a mess as he pushed them aside in his sleep. He couldn’t catch his breath nor make sense of what the hell just happened, the darkness around him so different from the dim light of his parlor.

“Oh, lord,” he muttered as he closed his eyes again, despite finally being aware of his surroundings. Marco was aware that it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that it had only been a dream, but the disappointment was still almost tangible. Well, so was his hard on, if the discomfort in his boxers was anything to go by. Ignoring it for a moment, Marco reached over with his healthy hand and patted the nightstand in an attempt to locate his phone to check the time. He managed to do so, almost regretting that he had when the light blinded him, but he squinted at the screen only to find that it was just a few minutes before his alarm was scheduled to go off.

That gave him a really short while to determine whether he was happy to have been woken before the end of his dream or not. On one hand, his, well, hand would be the one in charge of finishing what dream Ace had started. On the other, it was a mystery whether he’d be able to look the real Ace in the eyes. Probably not. Marco wasn’t exactly a shy person, but looking at his coworker and seeing Ace giving him a blow job could hardly be good for his professional image. Not to mention how it would be a dead giveaway to Robin, if he foolishly assumed she hadn’t noticed anything yet.

The blaring of his alarm silenced the thoughts bubbling in his head long enough to turn the noise off before Marco managed to drag his sweaty and still fairly horny self out of bed. He was faring well so far, but he was aware the need to test out his left hand would arise eventually. Dreaming of Ace sucking his dick was a surprise, though.

Grumpily, Marco made his way to the bathroom, the plastic bag he used to cover his cast already waiting for him by the shower. There was nothing hotter than getting off with a plastic shopping bag on his arm, honestly. Shopping would apparently be an awkward affair in the future as well as working on that same chair.

Deciding to cross that bridge when he reached it, Marco wrapped up his arm with ease of doing so for pretty much a month already before stepping under the spray of cold water. The time to protect his cast from the water was enough to clear his mind and decide that it was probably for the best if he didn’t jerk off to the image of Ace doing unspeakable things to him and his boner.

In order to play it safe, Marco hurried with the shower before he managed to imagine Ace in there with him and make matters worse. Anyway, he didn’t want to be late for work so there really was not time to waste lest he wanted to make Robin suspect something. It wasn’t like he didn’t tell her things, but this time he wasn’t sure how he’d explain it really. He was shamelessly flirting with Ace for weeks now, but as soon as there were dreams and boners involved, he couldn’t stomach the thought of sharing information with her.

For a moment, he entertained the thought that maybe Izo was right about him being sexually frustrated. Admitting it out loud and to Izo was out of the question, of course, but he could see how that was definitely a plausible explanation for the dream. It wasn’t often that he had wet dreams, at least not since his teenage years, but Ace could clearly be described as something new and different for him.

With a troubled sigh, Marco grabbed his headphones before walking out the door. Despite the rather interesting turn of events, even if it concerned only him, the walk to work was calming as it always was. There were few things Marco enjoyed as much as walking to work so early in the morning almost no one else occupied the streets. The music in his ears was calming as the chilly morning air as his steps brought him closer to the parlor. Which, if he thought about it closely, would also bring him closer to Ace and possible embarrassment. It was funny how his work hours became a jumble of embarrassment, entertainment and attraction ever since Ace started filling in for him.

With that, his thoughts turned into a not so strange direction. It was Friday morning, the end of his fourth week with the cast. Also the end of Ace’s fourth week of working for Marco, a thought that was less pleasing if he considered the fact his cast was to come off in two weeks. Continuing in the fashion of conflicting emotions, Marco found himself sighing by the time he met Robin in front of the parlor door. Well, it was still early morning and his day had already been a wild ride. He was, however, very grateful that Robin adopted a way of not commenting on his troubled appearance because, most likely, she knew exactly what was going on. Or her date went very well and she was absorbed in her own world of hopefully less sexual frustration. The place would probably explode if they were all frustrated at the same time, Marco thought with a fair amount of amusement.

Without a word, save for a brief ‘good morning’ muttered between them, Robin unlocked the door and let them in. Marco was barely out of his jacket and Robin had only started filling the coffee machine by the time Ace entered the front room. It was becoming a habit of his to arrive just a short while after the two of them and Marco had to admit it would be weird without Ace after he got his cast off. Well, despite that, he wouldn’t mind seeing the thing go to finally return to his job. A month without so much as drawing was driving him insane. He couldn’t remember the last time he had gone so long without working on anything.

“Morning,” Ace said with a yawn, dropping into the chair Usopp usually occupied in the mornings. To Marco’s relief, Ace didn’t seem capable of flirting at the moment, saving him the embarrassment. The dream, however, was still pretty vivid in his mind. He was half expecting Ace to crawl under his desk and finish what his dream counterpart started before he reminded himself that he wasn’t dreaming nor was he starring in porn. Not to mention that Robin was in the room with them, keeping a keen eye on him. It seemed she snapped out of her reverie at least, which wasn’t necessarily good for him. Worrying this much wasn’t healthy, but he was surrounded by people that he needed to be weary of, apparently. He didn’t know what he’d do if Ace accidentally sucked his dick…

Now that made him freeze in his chair. How the hell do you accidentally suck someone’s dick? He was losing it, clearly, that dream and being unable to draw was wearing him down, he had no way of releasing himself of the thoughts swimming in his mind. The first and foremost being about Ace. Flirting with him was just freaking dandy, but he knew that actually dating him would be impossible so long as Ace worked for him. It sounded simple enough, Ace’s contract was only for two more weeks so Marco could ask him out then.

But it didn’t seem so simple to him, not with knowing Ace and his brother were working on rebuilding their own business. Not to mention his occasional, but very sound doubts about Ace’s motives; was he genuinely interested or just killing time by flirting with the boss?

If he had been thinking straight, Marco would realize that it was a dumb question, but his mind set in a panic that Ace would look at him and immediately know about his dream, using it against him to win their little game. Marco knew one touch and he’d give in this time, he’d kiss Ace right there no matter who was in the room. Not that Robin cared, really, he was convinced she had some hidden fangirling tendencies anyway.

That would, however, be a bad decision. An immoral one, really. Yes, even after all the teasing he gave Ace in a short span of a single month, Marco liked to think he still had morals. Slightly warped ones considering his dream he enjoyed a bit too much, but morals nonetheless.

“Boss~” Ace purred and Marco suppressed a shiver threatening to run down his spine at the sound, so similar to the way Ace sounded in his dream. He did snap out of it, though, before anyone caught him off guard.

“Yes, Ace?” he replied, giving back in kind if the flush rising to Ace’s cheeks was anything to go by. He didn’t have a title to use, but just saying his name seemed to do the trick if he did it right.

“Hancock’s coming back today,” Ace said, the humor leaving his voice and Marco could understand why. "There was a cancellation so I called her," he added. Neither of them wanted to deal with her considering one wrong word would be a certain death for sure, but it had to be done. The only thing Marco could really hope for was that she already told Ace everything there was to say about him or any past mistakes he would never admit to committing.

No matter how much he wanted to, Marco didn’t groan out loud, but Robin’s chuckle told him everything he needed to know about her being fully aware of the situation. He simply nodded in reply to Ace’s statement, skillfully and entirely subtly avoiding eye contact with him. There was no way Ace could read him, right? He was definitely not emitting waves of guilt and horniness with every breath he took.

“Are you not well?” Robin asked, the sly smirk revealing that she did indeed know what was brewing in his head. Hopefully she wasn’t aware of how hot Ace looked with a dick -specifically, his dick- in his mouth.

That really wasn’t an image he was supposed to be thinking of. Telling himself to pull it together just until Ace and Robin left the office, Marco let himself smile as he turned to face Robin.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“You look like you didn’t sleep well,” she continued, obviously set on either making him snap for her own amusement or just that dense that she didn’t realized he wasn’t keen on talking about it. And if there was one thing Marco knew about his partner, it was that she was not dense.

“I slept fine,” he told her with the same smile. “You never told me how your date went,” he added before she managed to say something else as she set his cup of coffee on the desk before him.

“It went well,” she started, being the greatest poker face queen that ever lived. “Franky is absolutely delightful.”

It was kind of a stand-off between Marco and Robin, the two of them staring each other down while Ace blinked in confusion because, while it was hard to pinpoint what exactly was off about the two, he could tell there was something going on. However, it was once again Usopp’s perfectly timed arrival that lifted the strange mood.

Usopp had the appearance of a freshly risen zombie, as per usual, with absolutely no sense to recognize that he may have interrupted something. Marco didn’t complain, though, as Robin’s gaze turned to the youngest in the group for a moment long enough to allow his own gaze to move away from her. There was no doubt whether she’d inquire about his odd moods, only the question of when. He rather it happen later or never, really, but she had a knack of attacking when he least expected it. She enjoyed catching him off guard, being one to take pleasure in other people’s suffering.

Well, now he was being just melodramatic. Anything as long as he didn’t have to think about Ace and his mouth, honestly, he couldn’t afford to lose the little bit of sanity he had left. Ace seemed dead set on getting his attention, though, sliding down in his seat and making his shirt ride up just enough to offer Marco a sliver of inked skin.

If there was one thing he didn’t need at the moment, it was the knowledge that Ace had a tattoo that went over part of his abdomen and under his waistband. He did not need fuel for his imagination, though it would seem that he at least shared Ace’s tattoo kink. No surprise there, really, he was around tattoos and parlors for so long, he was actually more surprised he hadn’t noticed it sooner. It was no time to stare at Ace’s crotch, again, he remembered begrudgingly that he had done the same thing back at the hospital weeks ago. He was on painkillers then, what was his excuse now?

“Okay, you deal with Hancock and you go clean up or something,” he said with as much authority as he could muster with Ace’s grin shining back at him. The bastard caught him staring. Why wouldn’t he? It was all he needed, really. “Usopp, sit down before you pass out,” he added, noting that his only, and by far favorite, apprentice was swaying on his feet. Even after so much time working for Marco, he didn’t become any more of a morning person. He’d laugh on a normal occasion, but he was low on humor from the moment he noticed Ace’s grin didn’t dim in the slightest.

The cockiness only reminded him of his dream and he hoped his face revealed nothing as Robin left the office with her cup of coffee, Usopp trailing behind her towards the bathroom to either fall asleep on the toilet or splash some water on his face to wake up. Ace stayed behind for a moment longer, much like he had days sooner.

“You know, I never asked you about your kinks,” Ace trailed off, an all too alluring twinkle in his eyes. The familiar tone of the banter was enough to snap Marco back into the state of mind he knew well.

“Is that your final question?” he asked, cocking his eyebrow as his lips stretched into a smile. “I didn’t think you’d use it so carelessly.”

Lifting his hands in surrender, Ace rose from his seat. “No, no, I’m still saving it for something special.” He was on his way to the door, but being the infuriating bastard that he was, Ace swayed his hips a bit more than was strictly necessary before glancing over his shoulder. “I will find out about your kinks one way or another, though.” With that he was gone, the door to his room closing with a click and Marco had to give it to him; Ace had a knack for dramatic exits. Only this time, he hardly noticed anything but the tone of his voice that promised mischief and the sway of his ass as he walked out. 


	9. Chapter 9

Dealing with Hancock on a Friday was one of his best ideas, Ace concluded after having the weekend off work to recover from the encounter. After all, their previous meeting ended with him revealing information about Luffy that was hardly of any importance and she seemed to realize as much in the meantime. There was one word to describe Hancock on a good day and that was ‘scary’, exactly what she was as soon as she stepped into the parlor on Friday. Ace was sure Marco had been laughing at his misery, at least in that short moment when he wasn’t mortified at the possibility of more embarrassing anecdotes coming to Ace’s attention.

She didn’t share any this time, but Marco didn’t need to know that detail just yet. After all, the man was hopelessly paranoid about something he clearly didn’t want Ace to find out. Which, obviously, meant that Ace had to find out. Just for the sake of knowing, of course. For science, one might say.

Sabo placed a plate stacked with pancakes in front of him, snapping him out of his musings and throwing him headfirst into a storm of nervousness. Truth was, Ace had been avoiding Sabo ever since he and Marco had their little encounter at the club. Well, he was avoiding Sabo as much as you can avoid your roommate for almost two weeks already, which was to say not very much. However, he did consider himself somewhat successful in his feat, considering Sabo had yet to get a chance to ask any questions about what he had seen and heard. Not to mention the enthusiasm with which Marco’s brother spoke about setting them up, but that was another can of worms he didn’t want to open just yet. Well, kind of. It was all connected somehow in what seemed to be a huge conspiracy involving Ace himself, Marco and a date. At least.

“You know you could, maybe, just ask him out,” Sabo said as he sat across the table from Ace with his own plate of pancakes. He spoke without even glancing at Ace, successfully messing with Ace’s nerves. How the hell could he be so calm about it? “You do wanna ask him out, right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ace said, eyeing his pancakes as if they were about to whisper the meaning of life to him. “Pass me the syrup.” He could almost feel Sabo roll his eyes. Still, the syrup was placed in front of him and Ace thought Sabo might just let it go.

“So, he’s been distracting you these last few weeks?”

Of course he wouldn’t let it go. For someone who claimed not to have an interest in Ace’s love life, he sure asked a lot of questions.

“If by distracting you mean he’s been messing with me for the last few weeks, then yes, that was him,” Ace replied with his own eye roll, hating the fact that their breakfast was slowly starting to sound like a stereotypical sleepover starring a bunch of teenage girls from dumb high school comedies. Definitely not a role he saw himself in, but there they were, Sabo with his questions and Ace trying to ignore them. “Hey, you knew him from before and never told me about it!” he accused in an attempt to throw Sabo of the course the conversation was taking. At the moment, his image of Marco may have been a bit different than it was supposed to be, but he was still an important person in the business and Ace would have loved to have met him in a less embarrassing way. He wouldn’t go so far as to say he had idolized Marco as an artist before they had met, but Ace did admire his skills.

“Well, you met him now,” Sabo shrugged it off, momentarily shutting up in favor of taking a bite of his breakfast. “And you get to work with him so stop complaining.”

“It’s not the same,” he argued. “Not to blow the man’s horn or anyth…”

“You’d like to blow something else of his, wouldn’t you?” Sabo interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, smirking at him with such pride for his little quip.

“I do not!” he defended himself before thinking it through. “Well, maybe a little…”

“How do you blow him just a little?” Sabo asked with what looked like genuine curiosity before shaking his head. “No, don’t tell me. Still, you get to work with your idol, be happy!” he added, all too happy that he was seemingly agitating Ace once again.

“You can work there if you think it’s so great!” he grumbled, much like a petulant child would if his parents didn’t want to buy him a new toy to which Sabo raised an eyebrow.

“If you want to trade, I’m sure I could work something out with Izo and Marco,” Sabo said in all seriousness. “In fact, I can ask Izo tonight if you’d like.”

“No!” Ace shouted too quickly, realizing his mistake as soon as Sabo’s lips stretched into a victorious grin.

“So, when are you gonna ask him out?”

Ace slid his plate to the side to create enough space then proceeded to let his forehead fall to the table. “I’m not gonna,” he mumbled, very much aware that Sabo was highly amused by his antics. That wasn’t really a novelty, either, so he decided not to care just this once.

“And why not?” Sabo continued, used to having to extract every bit of information from Ace by force. Well, almost by force.

“He’s my boss, Sabo, I can’t date my boss,” he replied, lifting his head to glare at his brother. “I’m pretty sure that’s not morally right or something.”

“Funny time to have your morals awaken,” Sabo snickered, still focusing on his breakfast and doing nothing to acknowledge Ace’s distress or even ask why he felt the way he did. “Besides, he’s not going to be your boss forever. Only the rest of this week and one more before I’m your boss again,” Sabo added with a smirk.

“You were never my boss, you ass,” he glared, forgetting what they had been talking about a moment ago. Before he could remind himself, though, an infernal scratching sound was heard through the apartment, making the two freeze in their spots. The noise continued, growing louder as the seconds ticked by, bringing their attention to the lack of their smallest roommate.

“Ace, where’s Garpie?”

“He broke into the bathroom while I was in the shower…” he trailed off as Sabo’s eyes widened and in a flash, they were both rushing through the small apartment and towards the bathroom, pinpointing the noise easily. Ace opened the bathroom door and was met with what seemed to be a glare on Garpie’s face. The shower curtain, dubbed an abomination even before, was now in tatters and Ace’s towel was crumpled underneath the corgi’s tiny paws. One glance at their pet was enough for Ace to back away slowly before the little guy tackled him.

“I think I should be getting to work now,” he said and darted out through the hall, toeing on his shoes and grabbing a jacket before fleeing the apartment with Sabo’s laughter reaching him even through the closed door. It was funny, really, being afraid of such a small dog, but in reality, Garpie could tackle a grown man -Ace specifically- and sit on his face. Not exactly a pleasant experience.

His feet barely touched the pavement when his phone pinged, signalling a new text. Making his way down the street, Ace opened the message and groaned. It was from Sabo and the contents were more than clear.

“You’re gonna need to burn your towel :D”

Ace only wished he could say that was the first time Garpie had done that to him. He also wished he could honestly say that the rest of his day would be completely ordinary, which as of late entailed copious amounts of sexual frustration, yet it seemed he was in for one of those days. It was obvious as soon as he walked through the door and Usopp already sat behind the front desk, something that hadn’t happened since Ace started working there. As if that hadn’t been enough proof that there was an odd day ahead, Robin walked out of the office with two mugs just as Ace hung his jacket by the door. Stranger still, she handed one of the steaming mugs to him before setting the other next to Usopp.

“I believe Marco wants a word with you,” she said, smiling her innocent smile as she watched him narrow his eyes in suspicion before complying. He didn’t exactly get very far before his mind went into overtime, the sole focus being the fact his boss wanted to speak to him alone. Maybe he’d done something bad.

Just as suddenly as the thought appeared, it also went away, making him stop in his tracks just before he reached the office. Good lord, he was starting to think in terms of a bad porn which, in itself, was a new low. He resumed walking before either Robin or Usopp could question his, by this point, visibly odd behavior. The door was cracked open and he pulled at the doorknob without looking inside, entering the office with his mind preoccupied. Out of habit, he pulled the door closed again before lifting his gaze.

“Hey, Robin said you…” he started, but his mouth went dry before he could finish the sentence. Ace hadn’t expected to see Marco shirtless so soon, or ever again for that matter, but somehow it was happening. Marco seemed startled by his sudden intrusion, though Ace had to give him credit for not yelping or something. He was just in the middle of sliding on a dark blue button up shirt, as gracefully as he could with one arm still in its cast, when Ace interrupted him.

“Ace?” he asked, as if it weren’t obvious that it was, in fact, Ace staring at him with a very starstruck expression. That tattoo was doing things to Ace, but at least he did have enough sense to feel partially ashamed for drooling over Marco’s chest.

“Robin said you needed to talk to me…” he trailed off as his eyes remained glued to the blue ink on Marco’s skin. “Why are you shirtless?” he asked before he could stop himself, eyes never leaving Marco’s chest. Somehow, he was sure Marco had noticed, but Ace couldn’t bring himself to care just yet. It was a great possibility that it would come to bite him in the ass eventually, a thought he couldn’t focus on at the moment. He did vaguely register that Marco was drawing nearer, but that was neither here nor there and he filed it as a concern for another time.

“Robin wanted me to try this on,” he replied, no longer sounding startled or confused. Instead, he pulled the shirt on so it covered his shoulders, the motion finally snapping Ace’s attention away from the tattoo and onto Marco’s face. “What do you think?” Marco asked and Ace could see the question for what it was; a double edged sword. He could play it off casually, pretend he was indeed looking at the shirt and leave it at that, even if Marco knew better. Or, he could go with his newly found trashy porn side and lick the man’s abs.

“You look good.”

Smooth, Ace. Freakin’ smooth. His pickup lines weren’t any better on a good day, but this was just pushing it a bit far. Luckily, Marco didn’t seem put off by it. In fact, he smirked at the admission, stepping just a bit closer with the shirt unbuttoned, revealing just enough of the tattoo above the waistline of his pants. To hell with it, Ace thought as he reached out and brushed the pad of his thumb along the feather inked across Marco’s hip. Marco only raised an eyebrow at that, but did nothing to pull away and Ace took it as permission. It didn’t escape his notice that he was supposed to ask for permission first, but he figured it was too late now.

“Did I tell you that I like your tattoo?” he asked, his hand disappearing under the shirt, his fingers trailing gently across the ink and he lifted his gaze to meet Marco’s.

“You told me you like tattoos,” Marco replied with a smile. “Didn’t really specify further.”

Oddly, the situation felt anything but awkward. Ace was almost groping his boss, which should have been way weirder than it actually was for several reasons he’d rather not think about at the moment. Marco didn’t seem put off by the groping either, which was another strange part of the whole thing.

“I like good tattoos,” Ace told him. “Which you know yours is,” he added with a raised eyebrow. It was the truth and Ace didn’t mind paying compliments to Robin’s work or, indirectly, to Marco’s body. He was, in all honesty, way beyond the point of pretending he didn’t find Marco attractive and he suspected Marco felt the same. After all, he did nothing to stop Ace’s actions.

“Maybe I’ll show you the whole thing one day,” Marco said as he stepped backwards, his gaze locking onto Ace’s as they both moved towards the desk until Marco’s thighs hit the edge and he leaned against it, Ace’s hand still under his shirt. Marco made himself comfortable, stretching his legs until Ace stood between them. A truly compromising position, Ace had to admit, but it didn’t do anything to deter him from what he had been doing. His other hand moved up on its own accord, fingers trailing the ink of Marco’s other side and he looked back to his abs, noting with satisfaction that Marco wasn’t as calm as he appeared to be.

“That would be…” he started, his eyes darting up and meeting Marco’s for a moment as his lips stretched into a smirk, “lovely.” They were slowly making their way into uncharted territory and it was exciting, their movements slow and calculated so as not to startle each other or break the spell of the moment. Ace was pushing the limits of proper workplace behavior and Marco was letting him, all in an attempt to win this little game and make each other break first and give into a desire that has clearly been there for a while already.

Marco smirked back at him. “But only if you show me yours,” he demanded, prompting a smile out of Ace.

“What makes you think I have one?”

“A hunch,” Marco told him as he leaned in, his healthy hand coming to rest on Ace’s hip as he spoke. “You’re not the only one that likes good tattoos.”

Ace only chuckled in amusement that replaced whatever remnants of nervousness he still harbored. There wasn’t much of that to begin with, but it was all gone by now. He didn’t want to be the one to give in and he wasn’t planning on it, but Ace could still do his best to get Marco to make the first move. Considering their current situation, Ace didn’t think it would be that hard to achieve. After all, they had been dancing around each other for weeks now and, in Ace’s mind, it turned into a challenge of who would propose a date first.

Feeling a bout of inspiration, Ace dragged his fingers further under Marco’s shirt, grazing his skin with his nails and hummed in triumph when Marco gasped.

“We’ll have to see about that,” Ace said, thinking about Marco's demand. He was proud of his ink and didn’t mind showing it, but just giving in to Marco’s request would be rather anticlimactic. His lips brushing against the shell of Marco’s ear, Ace smirked before continuing, “I don’t drop my pants for just anyone.”

It was Marco’s turn to chuckle, though Ace had a nagging suspicion that he had managed to rattle him if the sudden tightening of Marco’s fingers was anything to go by. Ace turned his head just enough to be able to look at Marco, given that they were basically hugging by this point, and Marco looked back at him, their noses just a hair’s breadth apart. Only then did Ace notice how truly in trouble he was. His wishes to lure Marco into giving in were all well in theory, but being in such a compromising position did wonders in terms of crushing his otherwise strong resolve. It wasn’t exactly an invitation for dinner, but kissing Marco would most likely get his message across.

Ace was dangerously close to just letting go and, all teasing aside, close to forgetting his moral qualms about having a relationship with his boss. All he seemed to be able to think about at the moment was how nice it would be to kiss Marco. Marco, for all his usual calmness, seemed to be in the same state of mind, his eyes focused on Ace’s as their breaths mingled. Ace leaning in, just enough to make his intent clear, his body obviously deciding for him.

“Aw, damn!”

They both jolted at the sound of Usopp’s voice, finding both him and Robin at the door. Ace stepped away from Marco as he started covering his chest while faced with Robin’s sly smirk. She turned towards the dejected looking Usopp before speaking.

“I told you, didn’t I?” This only served as proof that Robin’s expressions that looked like she knew something Ace didn’t weren’t just bluffs and clearly she was now onto them. Well, nothing really happened, but trying to prove that would be a futile battle.

“Now, if you two don’t mind,” she started, turning back to them, “my first appointment starts soon, so if you’d kindly turn this into a pornography free zone, I would be very grateful.” Saying that with an innocent smile, Robin successfully made Ace blush before he poured himself a cup of coffee and left the office with a blushing Marco behind to fend for himself. Well, at least that made him smile when he closed the door to his work room. He wasn’t ashamed of getting caught in a position like that with Marco, but it was embarrassing that they were obviously an open book to Robin and he suspected there was a bet going on between her and Usopp. However, that was a question he’d attempt to answer on another day.

Getting found like that, though, served as a cold shower for the sexual tension that was getting out of hand. It could have gone further, true, but that should maybe be saved for a more appropriate time and place. Focusing on work, or at least attempting to, Ace turned on the laptop in the room. He was just about to grab the broom and tidy up when the door opened, revealing Usopp in all his zombie glory. Even if he had been there before Ace, Usopp still didn’t look happy about it.

“Hey, just wanted to let you know you don’t have anything in your schedule for another hour and a half so if anyone walks in for consulting, I’m sending them to you,” Usopp told him without entering the room. He looked more sleepy than awkward or anything, something Ace was grateful for. A nod from Ace was enough of a reply for Usopp to disappear once again, most likely to slowly nod off before anyone came through the front door.

Ace, on the other hand, was wide awake and trying very hard not to think of the encounter with Marco. Work usually served as a great distraction, considering he didn’t have to ink anyone at the moment, so sifting through the music library on Marco’s work laptop in search for anything good seemed like a good start. He didn’t know what he had been expected, but a whole playlist of 80s rock music and the occasional pop song was definitely not a part of it.

With a grin, he clicked on Journey’s Don’t stop believin’ and turned the volume up before starting his work. There was just something epic about the song that he couldn’t place, but he liked it nonetheless and, judging by the rest of Marco’s music, their taste was quite similar. A little teasing was in order for the Cindy Lauper song he found, but other than that, Ace was amused by it and somewhat happy that they had that in common. Other than Cindy Lauper, of course, because Ace absolutely did not own one of her albums on vinyl.

As the vocals started, Ace hummed along as he usually did, mentally kicking himself for never turning on some music since he started working for Marco. The humming was slowly turning into singing along under his breath and then, before he knew it, Ace was singing louder and, to his embarrassment, dancing around the room with the broom in hand. Technically, he had finished sweeping already, but the song switched to Billy Idol’s White Wedding and he couldn’t help but bark out a laugh at the memory of singing that with Luffy when they were kids. Weirdly so, Luffy was a big fan when he was smaller while Sabo had no understanding for the obsession, being a fan of boy bands at the time. It was embarrassing, now that Ace thought about their childhood, though, very fun at the same time.

With that in mind, Ace continued swaying as the music played and the song switching to Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire, reminding him of memories from a long time ago, but also making him realize how much he missed working with Sabo. Even Luffy had a habit of hanging out at the parlor, entertaining the customers whenever he could. The place was pretty much home and Ace suddenly felt a longing to go and help Sabo with the renovations just so they could be back in business as soon as possible.

“Never would have thought you’d like Billy Joel and give me a show to one of my favorite songs,” Marco’s voice cut through the vocals, making his smirk clear even before Ace turned to face him. “I figured I’d have to unleash Izo on you to see you dance.” It was definitely one of those days.

“It’s one of my favorites as well,” Ace said without missing the irony of the song’s title considering his involvement in burning down the parlor. “The show, however, wasn’t meant for you,” Ace told him before adding “boss.” It’s been too long since he teased, as far as he was concerned, but the term came out more lighthearted than it usually did, slowly turning into a term of endearment than a means to get Marco riled up. Odd how things change in a heartbeat.

“Ah, my bad,” Marco said, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Maybe some other time, then.”

Ace couldn’t help the laughter bubbling from his chest, knowing that he wouldn’t really mind giving Marco a show. A different kind, perhaps, but still involving music. He stopped his line of thought from going down that particular path, though, knowing Robin would most likely have their heads if they tried something in the parlor again. Besides, the moment was gone and won’t be repeating itself again, most likely.

“Was ogling your poor unsuspecting employee the only reason for your visit?” Ace asked, smile still in place as he scooped up the small amount of dirt from the floor and threw it into the metal trash can in the corner.

“As tempting as that sounds, I’d have to say no,” Marco replied as he stepped further into the room, not bothering to close the door behind him. Seriously, he walked around like he owned the damn place. Which, Ace realized immediately, he did. “Usopp told me you have an empty slot and I wanted to take it for myself.”

Ace was shocked by that because it seemed unreal that Marco would let Ace tattoo him, but the shock was soon replaced by skepticism. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms before his chest in suspicion. “Really?” he asked, not completely convinced.

Marco sighed as he sat down on Ace’s work chair. “Okay, that and I’m really bored,” he said, the despair almost tangible in his voice. “I do nothing all day and there’s only so much of nothing I can do at a time.” That made more sense to Ace and he chuckled, not feeling offended in the slightest that Marco didn’t necessarily need a new tattoo from him.

“Bored enough to let me ink you?” he asked nonetheless.

“I wouldn’t mind you inking me, though not out of boredom,” Marco said, the desperate look on his face replaced by a smile. “You can draw up some designs and impress me, though,” he added with a grin and Ace mirrored it, feeling confident that he had already impressed Marco, but didn’t mind getting an opportunity to do so again. He was quick to get his sketch pad and pencil, sitting on the chair customers usually used. Marco was right next to him, still grinning and, honestly, looking like an excited child. Ace figured the other must have been really bored for weeks now. After all, there’s only so much he could do with a cast on his dominant arm.

“You have anything specific in mind?” he asked, flipping through the almost full sketchbook in an attempt to find an empty page. “Or do I just surprise you and blow your mind?” he added with a cocky grin, one he often wore when it came to his skill. After all, Ace had been practicing and learning for years, his hard work paying off when he had landed his first apprenticeship with a real tattoo artist. He hadn’t stopped working on honing that skill ever since, not that he wanted to.

“How about you draw your tattoo since you don’t want to show me?” Marco asked with an utterly smug look on his face and Ace had half a mind to throw his sketchbook at him, but settling on a glare instead. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Marco chuckled before calming down once again. “Draw whatever your favorite type of tattoo is.” As soon as the words left Marco’s mouth, Ace knew what he would be drawing.

Finally finding an empty page, Ace lifted his legs to cross them on the chair, settling in comfortably before starting on the sketch. He settled on blackwork as his absolute favorite, this time combined with details he had seen on Scandinavian runestones. It was delicate work, drawing a snake-like dragon with its body intertwined amidst a net of thin serpents wrapping around the dragon. He left out runes this time, focusing on a composition resembling a knot that he filed out with solid black and softer surfaces covered with tiny dots. Using a pencil for such work wasn’t ideal, but it was only a rough draft for something that may never make it into the final stage of being permanently inked into someone’s skin.

With impeccable shading, Ace turned the dragon’s body black with thin white lines marking the scales as the serpents remained white in a stark contrast. The empty surfaces were shaded by dotting and thin lines forming a netting resembling the surface of a beehive if observed closely. He was fast, the strokes of his pencil light on the paper as he worked, noting from time to time that Marco watched him with undivided attention. Ace faded the outer edges of the sketch, making them blend into the background before he lifted his now graphite stained hand from the paper. He only glanced over it once more before handing the sketchbook to Marco who took it with utmost care before staring at the design.

“I knew blackworks were your favorite,” he said triumphantly, grinning as his eyes ran over the drawing. “Your tattoo’s like that too, isn’t it?” Marco asked, lifting his gaze to look Ace in the eye.

“Why the sudden interest for my tattoo, boss?”

Marco shrugged before answering. “You don’t wanna show it to me,” he said as if it made sense. Though, it kind of did to Ace, but he wouldn’t say it out loud. “And you mentioned something about dropping your pants to show it so I can’t help but wonder where exactly it is.” To make his point, Marco’s gaze shifted over Ace’s crotch for a moment as he grinned again then looked back to Ace’s slightly blushing face. That seemed to make Marco’s eyes widen a bit, the thought of Ace having a tattoo on his dick clearly surprising him. Of course, Ace didn’t have a tattoo there because that would hurt like hell and he wasn’t that big of a fan of ink, but Marco didn’t need to know that. He stared at Ace with wide eyes, a slight blush creeping onto his face now as his question went unsaid, but very much noticed.

“Hm, you might just find out one day~” 


	10. Chapter 10

By this point in time, Marco was so very used to lying in bed in the morning, only moments before his alarm was supposed to go off, plagued with random thoughts and, clearly, being overly dramatic. Usually so unlike him, yet he found himself being so melodramatic a lot lately, what with the broken arm and all. And Ace. Yes, Ace had a big role in all of that, him and his evil ways of giving Marco images he would probably never un-see, no matter how untrue they were. Most recently, Ace seemed to have stepped up his game by mentioning the possibility of having a tattoo on his dick.

Now, Marco was severely conflicted on the whole matter; the thought of that kind of tattoo placement was interesting somewhat, though highly painful at the same time. He, thankfully, didn’t know first hand, but he did work several jobs like that and he can safely say he wished he hadn’t. However, if he thought about it, Ace did mention something about Marco seeing it one day which led him to believe he had more of a chance there than he had initially thought.

He snorted with amusement at his own considerably turbulent thoughts he had as of late. Marco would have been alarmed by such a change, but in all honesty, he was having a lot of fun since Ace joined his little family of artists. Save for the broken arm, that is, but surprisingly, he was already used to that inconvenience, if not to the boredom that came with it.

Thinking of the arm only brought the impending removal of the cast to mind and the fact he had a mere week with it left. That, in turn, reminded him that he had a mere week with Ace left as well. Of course, they were both adults and he could ask Ace on a date as soon as the six weeks are up. Not quite as dramatic or fun, but he’d settle with that. If Ace didn’t drive him crazy in that last week, of course, which was looking like a viable option at the moment.

The beeping of his alarm came at the right moment to stop him from laughing out loud at his own overreacting thoughts, but it also signaled the beginning of clinking coming from his kitchen. While any normal person would panic or be frightened at the intrusion, Marco simply sighed in exasperation because sounds from the kitchen always meant there was a brother in the vicinity. For once, he sincerely hoped it wasn’t Izo. There was absolutely no way he could get away with not answering his questions, not that he could even bring himself to ignore Izo when he started his questioning.

Still, the volume of the clinking increased and Marco couldn’t help but conclude that it was, in fact, not Izo currently destroying his kitchen. There was also the borderline heavenly smell wafting through the apartment that gave it away. Honestly, for all the genius Thatch had when it came to cooking, it all went to hell as soon as he stepped into the kitchen; things seemed to break by default as far as Marco knew. Or it may have simply been the case with Marco’s kitchen considering Thatch was the only one to ever use it properly. ‘Properly’ being a term Marco used loosely here.

With a yawn, Marco dragged himself out of bed which seemed to always turn more comfortable just after the alarm sounded. He didn’t bother with clothes yet, knowing Thatch wouldn’t even notice his state of undress or the ridiculousness of his boxers. After all, the pineapples were Thatch’s idea to begin with. Marco wasn’t in the right state of mind to remember that, though, so he opened the door and left his pitch black bedroom, following the sound of metal hitting the stone countertops and the smell of bacon. Marco genuinely hoped the bacon wasn’t an apology for a broken plate or something.

Maybe it was an apology for the singing that met him as soon as he stepped into the kitchen. As great Thatch was when it came to cooking, he was just as bad at singing. Marco had to admire Izo’s patience with him for as many years as they’ve known each other. Thatch seemed to notice him without turning around as he sang louder, knowing full well Marco hated his singing. It was amazing how he managed to do something nice for Marco and piss him off at the same time, yet that one explanation probably summed up their entire brotherly relationship and it was truly something amazing.

“Morning, sunshine!” Thatch exclaimed and Marco had half a mind to grunt in reply, going straight into zombie mode at the overly chipper attitude at such an early time of day. Especially from Thatch who was usually more like Usopp in the morning while Marco himself was usually far from it, but Thatch managed to bring out the worst in him, it seemed.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Marco asked with a grimace, suddenly painfully aware of his cast for some reason.

Thatch turned at the words, completely ignoring Marco lack of clothing just as he had predicted, and staring at him with confusion.

“I’m here to drive you to the doctor’s appointment,” he replied, hands steady on the pan’s handle and the pan itself lifted off the flame to prevent burning while he talked to Marco. “You still can’t drive, remember?”

Marco stood in his kitchen, wearing nothing but pineapple print boxers and a deadpan expression on his face as he stared as his brother.

“That’s tomorrow.”

Thatch’s eyes narrowed as he clearly tried to remember whether Marco was right or not, the two of them standing stock still and silent, like two cowboys waiting for noon; except one was armed with a pan full of bacon and the other had a cast on his arm as his sole weapon. Finally, Thatch was the one to break the impasse.

“God dammit, Izo,” he mumbled, setting the pan down and walking out of the kitchen without another word, followed only by the sound of the front door closing as he left the apartment. Only then did Marco start laughing like there was no tomorrow, barely keeping the tears at bay as he heard the ping of his phone signaling he had a new text waiting for him. Knowing his brothers as well as he did, Marco could predict what he’d read in said text that was most likely from Thatch, despite him leaving only moments before.

He located his phone before placing the pan back on the stove, cooking the bacon to perfection as he opened the text.

“Izo tricked me. Pick you up tomorrow morning.”

Marco could almost see Thatch pout as he typed that message and it just made him laugh more. Well, at least he got a free breakfast and some comedy to start his day, distracting him from his earlier thoughts despite them actually being amusing for once.

The breakfast was as perfect as usual when made by Thatch’s skilled hands, but Marco had no time to savor it slowly, still needing a shower before going to the parlor. Even if he didn’t do much there, he still felt he’d be setting a bad example by showing up late, despite knowing the others wouldn’t hold it against him. Especially since he didn’t actually do anything useful, other than occasionally filling out supply orders which, honestly, didn’t keep him occupied for very long.

Still, despite doing nothing almost all day, Marco was at the parlor in time to unlock the door for Robin and have coffee with her. Ace was there soon too, but Marco was surprised at how he seemed less enthusiastic than usual, not rising to any bait Marco threw at him. Ever the cunning one, Robin seemed to get to the bottom of it immediately.

“So, only one week left,” she said, the cup of coffee lifted to her lips, hiding what Marco presumed was a smartass smirk. They all knew what she meant and Marco was sad for a moment. After all, working with Ace was kind of fun and having him around was a nice change to the parlor. Not that he thought Robin and Usopp were boring, but Robin had a tendency of teaming up with Izo to try and get him a date so that sucked a bit when he knew he didn’t need a date as much as they seemed to think he did.

“Yeah.” Ace didn’t say much at first, glancing at Robin with an unreadable expression on his face. “It went by fast, didn’t it?” he continued after a short pause, smiling slightly, but Marco noticed it was less radiant than usual. “When do you get the cast off, anyway?” he asked suddenly, his gaze shifting towards Marco. He, in turn, was surprised by the sudden attention, feeling a bit tongue tied for a moment before managing a reply.

“I should find out tomorrow, I have an appointment with my doctor,” he said, suddenly wondering the same thing. He was aware that there would most likely also be some physical therapy involved after the cast was actually removed, but his already set appointments were thinning out and Ace’s help wouldn’t be needed after the cast was gone. After all, he had his own business to go back to and Robin could handle a while of being the only artist they had. He was even contemplating letting Usopp take some simple commissions for a while. People still walked into the parlor with requests for heart tattoos and names in all kinds of fonts, which, while sentimental to the customers, wasn’t very demanding from an artistic point of view.

“Ah, how ever will you manage without me, I wonder,” Ace said, smile widening into a grin that looked more natural on his freckled face and Marco allowed himself to smile as well. It was easy to decide he would ask Ace out as soon as he clocked out on the last day in the parlor because, if he were honest, they could work. Everyone else seemed to think so and he did like Ace well enough after knowing him for only a few weeks. It was worth a shot, at least.

“I’m sure we’ll be lost without you,” Marco said in an overly dramatic tone. “Make sure to keep your phone charged in case I need your help, wise master.”

Ace was less than impressed with that statement, leveling Marco with an unamused glare while Robin giggled behind her cup. It was exactly that kind of banter Marco would miss after Ace no longer worked for him. Or with him, whatever. It was all the same to him, as far as work went; Marco only considered himself Ace’s boss when it came to the whole dating thing.

“No need to get snarky with me, boss, I was just stating the obvious,” Ace told him matter of factly, completely ignoring the fact Marco was in business for quite some time already. Well, he was sure Ace was just joking, but still.

“And I was serious as well.” Marco was very good at keeping a straight face, pouring all of his seriousness into that one sentence. He would really miss Ace being a little shit most of the time, but Marco was sure he’d get over it. Especially if he said yes to the date.

Still, Ace narrowed his eyes as he still looked at Marco. “You’re an ass,” he said, clearly not believing Marco’s words as he shouldn’t, really, and Marco finally cracked and laughed out loud, immediately followed by Ace. Robin seemed amused by the whole sight, discreetly chuckling behind her cup of coffee while Usopp rummaged around behind the front desk, completely out of the loop. Not that he probably cared, really, it was still too early for him to even be awake.

“Hey, why is Usopp so sleepy every morning?” Ace suddenly asked and Marco had to chuckle at how long he went without voicing that curiosity. “I mean, it’s not that early. What, does he lead a double life or does he have an overly zealous lover that keeps him up at night?”

Both he and Robin stilled, staring vacantly with eyes way too wide as if contemplating his question like it was actually about the meaning of life.

“What?” Ace asked and Marco snapped out of it, turning to Robin to see she looked equally horrified. “You guys are weird. Wait, don’t tell me, is he a serial killer?”

“No,” Robin said with a snort.

“That’s probably more realistic that imagining Kaya being kinky, though,” Marco added, that vacant look back in his eyes as he clearly tried to imagine that, but obviously failed.

“Kaya’s his girlfriend?” Ace asked, still slightly wary of how the other two reacted. Marco found he couldn’t blame him because, to someone who didn’t know Kaya, such a reaction would be awfully strange. Then again, now he’d be stuck with an image of Kaya in some really weird and hopefully untrue scenario involving a lot of spandex, rope and full frontal nudity from Usopp’s side. Not really what Marco wanted to think about when looking at his one and only apprentice.

“Yes,” Robin replied before Marco could shake the image from his mind. “Maybe you’ll still meet her next week, she’s really nice.”

Marco noticed Ace wasn’t entirely convinced by that reply and, coming from Robin, the term ‘really nice’ could have a very wide range of meanings which Ace clearly knew by now. Robin, eager to change the subject or at least distract them from such images, stood from her chair and made her way out of the office.

“Well, I have work to do, so I’m leaving you to it.” With that, she was going, not elaborating on what she was leaving them to do. Maybe better if they didn’t know because after the last time, neither seemed too eager to display anything remotely intimate in the parlor. Marco could have laughed at how paranoid that was, but he figured it’d be better in just over a week. He’d never been this sexually frustrated, but he hoped it wasn’t deadly or something because he wasn’t sure how much more he could take without snapping. Still, he was somewhat hoping Ace was in the same boat.

“You don’t have work to do?” Marco asked even though he knew Ace’s schedule pretty well, considering he had nothing else to do so part of his time went into stalking Ace and Robin for empty slots in their appointments to keep him company. He was that desperate and Usopp may have been annoyed with him already.

“Not at the moment, no,” Ace told him, leveling him with a look that suggested he had a hard time believing Marco didn’t know about his schedule. “Wanna let me ink you now? No dicks, I promise.” Ace’s hand went up and he motioned crossing his heart to let Marco know he was serious. “I’m the wise master, you can totally trust me.” He was completely serious and it took all of Marco’s self control to keep himself from laughing. That, unfortunately, didn’t last long, and he burst out laughing, Ace joining him a moment later.

“I’ll think about that,” Marco told him, wiping away a stray tear that made its way from his left eye. He was half tempted to actually let Ace do it now. Well, not actually right away, but maybe some day. It had been a while since the last tattoo he got. “Only if you let me do you as well,” he added, completely serious about the offer of tattooing the other, but really, who would let an opportunity to play word games like that slip away? Ace seemed to be taken aback for a moment, before narrowing his eyes.

“Fine, we’ll do each other, then.”

This was probably the weirdest stand-off he had ever experienced, and it was also very weird he considered it a stand-off, half expecting Ace to speak as a cowboy any moment now, which was, in itself, really weird too. Neither spoke, they just stared at each other with narrow eyes. Marco was once again barely keeping a straight face, but something in him was giddy about the part where Ace said they would do each other, the innuendo probably not lost on him. Well, who wouldn’t get that one, anyway?

“Hey, Ace, there’s someone here to see you,” Usopp announced, startling them both like too many times before, and really, Marco was slightly worried at how he managed to sneak up on them so many times while being half asleep as he was. Maybe Usopp possessed some hidden talents no one knew about. A brief thought of Usopp being a spy or a ninja flickered through Marco’s mind before Ace stood from his chair, following Usopp out of the office without a word in Marco’s direction.

“Sanji!” was the next thing Marco heard before a dramatic gasp as he made his way after Ace. He was outside the office door just in time to see Ace bear hug a grumbling blond guy, holding him with his feet inches from the floor. The stranger wasn’t very amused, but Ace seemed to be taking great pleasure in irritating him. Still, Ace put him down again and stood brave before quite the expression of anger on the guy’s face.

“Cool it, Freckles, or I’m out of here,” he spoke before dusting himself in an attempt to remove unwanted freckles that may have transferred from Ace through the hug, for all Marco knew, considering there was nothing that would have required such an action. He then turned to Marco, glancing over him from head to toe before Ace looked towards him to see what held his friend’s attention.

“Sanji, that’s my boss, Marco,” Ace said, a small smirk accompanying the word ‘boss’ because obviously Ace hadn’t called him that in too long. “Marco, meet my friend and one of my first customers, Sanji. You met his significant other recently with those blackwork sleeves.”

“I wouldn’t call him my significant other,” Sanji drawled, but Marco could see affection in the slight stretch of his lips. “Nice work on the sleeves, though, but you could have told me you had a new job. You know how painful it is when Zoro tries to explain how to get somewhere if he forgot the name.”

Ace laughed, nodding in affirmation as Usopp stared at them with blank eyes, clearly as confused as Marco was.

“So, you’re here just to visit or do I get to see you shirtless again?” Ace asked with a grin and Marco felt a pang of jealousy, because yes, it was totally normal that he was jealous of a guy Ace seemed to know for a long while. Sanji didn’t seem to be amused by this, however, narrowing his eyes again before heaving a sigh.

“You’re seeing me shirtless again,” he replied with a snort. “Don’t know what happened, but I think the last part you made needs fixing.”

Ace nodded again, his face turning into a picture of professionalism as he started for his workplace. “I’ll take a look and we’ll go from there. You kept to the instructions I gave you, right?”

“Of course, I know them by heart already,” Sanji told him matter of factly with a roll of his eyes, following after Ace. “You insist on giving me that damn paper with the instructions every damn time.”

They were at the glass door when Ace turned to Marco. “I guess I’ll have to do you some other time, boss.”

It was Marco’s turn to narrow his eyes at the smirk Ace was giving him, ignoring the sheer shock plastered on Usopp’s face while Sanji only snorted in amusement. Clearly, he knew Ace well enough to interpret what he was doing. With that, the two disappeared behind the door and Marco turned to Usopp’s still wide eyed expression.

“Close your mouth and go back to work.”

“And not a word of this to Robin,” he added as an afterthought before returning to his office.

\--0--

On Friday morning, Marco was prepared for the noise from the kitchen and the smell of pancakes. Not as great as bacon, but Thatch’s pancakes were almost as divine. Marco had to give him credit, though, for finding enough ingredients for actually making something edible. That was a talent he could truly appreciate.

With a fair amount of yawning, Marco got out of bed and made his way straight to the shower, dealing with keeping the cast dry with little to no fussing. He was so used to taking showers with a plastic bag, it was no longer weird to think about even if it actually was really weird. Also slightly unhygienic, considering his forearm hadn’t been washed in five weeks, which was also really gross to think about.

He kept the shower short, but thorough. After all, breakfast was waiting for him and it smelled really good, letting it cool would be a damn shame. With that in mind, he was out of the shower and in clean clothes in record time, his bare feet making no sound as he walked to the kitchen. He followed Thatch’s humming, which was far better to listen to than his singing. Izo held the talent for all kinds of arts in that relationship, something Thatch clearly wasn’t ready to accept.

“Morning,” Thatch said around a mouth full of pancakes, another plate already waiting for Marco with a cup of coffee to the side. “You have time to eat that and then we have to leave.”

Marco nodded, sitting down and digging into the best breakfast he had in a while. Or at least since the day before. He should really invite Thatch over more often. “So why did Izo trick you?” Marco asked, fairly certain he knew the answer already.

“Said I wasn’t being remorseful enough,” he replied with a shrug, clearly not remorseful at all. After all, that little spider stunt and the foiled attempt at the club did kind of make them even. “Man, I broke your arm by accident, not like I ripped it off.”

May have been flawed logic, but Marco was already over blaming Thatch so he didn’t really care much at the moment. Izo, however, didn’t let things go easily. After so many years, Thatch should have known better, but Marco couldn’t complain. After all, Izo’s little trick got him a free breakfast.

Before he knew it, the two were in the car, driving downtown towards the man they considered the family doctor. Crocus was their foster father’s friend and a great physician with great knowledge of every single kid that passed through Pops’ house, which was a grand number. The ones that stayed close to Pops still went to Crocus when needed, considering he was used to a lot of unusual injuries he helped fix, mostly during their teenage years when they’d been too afraid to go to the emergency room. Marco wasn’t proud to admit that had happened fairly often, with reasons such as infections on tattoos made while drunk with unsterile needles to spraining an ankle while going (equally) drunk through a graveyard on Halloween. Marco wished he could say neither of those instances was about him, but that would be a blatant lie.

The private practice had a less frantic air than the overcrowded ER he had visited when the accident first happened and, to Marco’s relief, he was not under the influence of painkillers this time. The chances of doing or saying something stupid were, thankfully, slim to none this time.

Thatch was plopping down into a soft armchair as soon as they were through the door, leaving Marco to his business. The receptionist recognized him immediately, smiling as she greeted him before leading him through the door to Crocus’ office. He wished the layout of the place was less familiar to him, but at least it had been years since the last time he was there, a fact Crocus voiced as soon as he laid eyes on Marco and his poor arm.

“It’s been a long time since you were here as a patient,” he said it with a grin, clearly remembering that last incident that led them there. Marco wished people would just forget already because it was hardly one of his proudest moments. Though, those years were filled with dumb decisions that usually involved all of them and, even if they had fun most of the time, there were marks of different kinds left on all of them to remind them. Marco’s was one of the dumb kind.

“I wish you didn’t remember me for that.” He chuckled as Crocus led him to the examining table. Marco took a seat, handing his X-ray to Crocus, waiting patiently as they were being examined. He was done swiftly, turning to Marco and prodding at his arm before nodding.

“We can take the cast off,” he stated. “It looks good to me. You’ll need a couple of weeks of physical therapy before you can go back to work, though.”

“Wait, you’re taking it off now?” He was shocked, mostly because broken bones tended to take longer to heal. Right? “It’s only been five weeks since I got the cast. Isn’t it kinda soon?”

Crocus stared at him with a deadpan expression, his eyebrow lifting for a moment in a motion Marco knew well already. He was most likely going to be called a dumbass some time soon, no doubt.

“Cracked bones don’t take that long to heal,” he said with a shrug and Marco had a hard time to believe that.

“I thought my arm was broken.”

Crocus sighed at that, shaking his head a bit. “Let me guess,” he started, looking away as he reached for gloves and several scary looking tools, “you didn’t listen to the doctor when he was putting on that cast?” Marco had to think hard about that, but he was sure Crocus was right; he hadn’t been listening properly, with all the painkillers and infuriating thoughts about that stranger also known as Ace.

“I don’t think I was.” That was slightly embarrassing to admit, but given that Crocus had seen him in far worse situations, he didn’t give it much thought. The admission made him laugh, though, and Marco joined in soon enough.

“Well, the bone wasn’t broken so the cast can come off,” Crocus told him before reaching for what looked like a saw to Marco, “which I will do right now. Then you’re up for two or three weeks of therapy, depending how well you do.”

Marco was slightly taken aback by the news, given he had optimistically expected the cast to come off in a week the earliest. This didn’t change much in terms of Ace’s employment, but if he had to go to physical therapy, he wouldn’t be going to work the last week of their time together. Now that ruined his plans, considering he’d see Ace later that day only if he were to go to the parlor, which he doubted Crocus would allow.

He was lost in thought as Crocus went about the removal of his cast which he had come to consider the bane of his existence and the other let him, keeping quiet as the saw buzzed softly. It wasn’t long before he finally felt air on his forearm for the first time in five weeks. The arm also felt nasty and unwashed, but he ignored that for a moment to enjoy the freedom he had missed.

His wrist was stiff, however, due to the lack of use, and he was afraid of moving it too much. Crocus removed the last of the cast, throwing it into the trash before taking a small towel and running it under some water. He was in front of Marco in no time, surprisingly gently wiping the grime from Marco’s arm to give him some semblance of cleanliness until he can go home and take a real shower again.

“You’ll start therapy on Monday, but I’ll go through some exercises with you so the wrist feels less stiff and you can use your hand for some light lifting and easy tasks.”

Marco nodded, enjoying the feeling of warm water on his skin, but the stiffness of his wrist was doing less to encourage him. After all, it was his dominant arm, one he needed for his job and the reduced mobility was very alarming given that he wanted to continue working in the line of business he chose.

Removing the towel, Crocus took hold of his arm with one hand, placing the other on Marco’s wrist. Gently, he twisted it from side to side with minimal movements at first, turning further each time and slowly returning some mobility to the joint.

Even if he would never say it out loud, Marco panicked for a moment, the continued lack of use of his arm even after the removal of the cast getting to him more than he would care to admit. Still, the panic was dissolving as he moved his wrist, albeit still painfully, but that didn’t matter. Therapy would help him and he’d be as good as new. At least Thatch would be thrilled when he saw the lack of Marco’s constant companion of the last five weeks.

With the panic gone, Marco got another chance to think of Ace and the fact he might not get the chance to ask him out. It saddened him, considering he didn’t even have his number and pulling it out of Ace’s file would be a dick move. With a sigh, Marco turned his attention back to his wrist with the decision of figuring out what to do about Ace later. 


	11. Chapter 11

It was only thanks to Robin that Ace wasn’t worried about Marco not being at work on Friday. Well, not so much worried as sad, which in his case meant he was moping around, bothering Usopp because he was bored with no one to tease. Usopp turned out to be less amusing than Marco, which of course Ace knew, but the only other target availible was Robin and Ace was not really that stupid nor bored. Robin was also very scary and very busy, unlike him.

Monday, however, brought a whole new wave of disappointment when Marco hadn’t appeared for work again. Ace tried to be rational and not worry or anything, because honestly, if something were wrong, Robin would know. No, instead of being worried, Ace was yet again sulking like Luffy did when he was denied meat or Garpie’s company. It wasn’t exactly how he imagined the beginning of his last week there, but he couldn’t exactly choose so he settled for grumbling to himself while listening to Marco’s still hilarious playlist.

Ace would be lying if he’d said he wasn’t worried about his mental health, considering the lovesick behavior he was in no way entitled to. That, of course, did nothing to stop him from sulking because he was so damn bored. Robin, in all her infinite wisdom, had noticed straight away because that seemed to be how things worked in the parlor, but he must have been moving into really strange territory when Usopp caught on as well.

Things would be infinitely better if he had something, anything, to do, but business was slow, for him at least. With Marco’s blessing, Robin had given Usopp permission to take over some of the simpler tattoos in the appointment book, which led to Ace sitting at the front desk while Usopp inked a dolphin onto a teenage girl’s ankle. He was no stranger to tattoos that were far from what one might consider a challenge to produce, but it paid the bills. So, at the moment, he wasn’t sure which was worse; having to tattoo a dolphin or sitting at the front desk. He couldn’t help but wonder how Usopp made it through sitting there for five days a week without losing his mind.

Most of Ace’s time was spent wiggling on the chair and casting longing glances either to the front door or the door where Usopp worked for the moment. He had considered asking Robin where Marco was and why on earth he wasn’t at work, but that would just start a conversation far too unpleasant on his side, so he kindly opted against anything of the kind. It wasn’t the first time he wished he had Marco’s number because if the man himself wasn’t there to amuse him, Ace would like to at least be able to metaphorically poke at him even while away. Asking for said number from Robin or Usopp, though, was out of the question as it was another conversation he really did not want to have.

With a heavy sigh, Ace banged his forehead against the desk and tried very hard not to cry out in despair. It was only one day and he already got a taste of the boredom Marco must have felt during the previous five weeks on the job and, with a fair amount of pity towards the poor man, hoped he was at least having more fun at the moment than Ace was.

\--0--

After five weeks of going to work and then doing nothing of importance there, Marco thought he knew what ultimate boredom was and, with that, that he couldn’t have it worse. Yet, somehow, he was proven wrong as soon as he was woken up on Monday by rummaging about somewhere in his apartment. He was starting to regret giving out a spare key to Izo because both he and Thatch had access to it. While it was nice to be woken up by the smell of breakfast, Marco was slightly alarmed that if someone were ever to break into his apartment, he would just assume it was Thatch and go back to sleep. It could be potentially dangerous, but at the moment, it was nothing but severely annoying.

Still, he comforted himself with the fact his suffering was almost over; the cast was off and he only had to go through two weeks of physical therapy before he was back to normal. How bad could that be after five weeks of being less useful than a houseplant?

Considering he once again had Thatch, or even worse, Izo, rummaging through his kitchen, Marco could claim it was already pretty bad, but of course he would never say that to the pair. After all, they were in charge of driving him around until he was done with all that shit and back to his normal life without a cast or hurt arm or, admittedly, Ace as well. The latter, of course, he wouldn’t mind keeping around for an undetermined amount of time, but that was something he would rather not think of at the moment.

With some difficulty, Marco got out of bed, still not used to the lack of the weight on his arm. His wrist was slightly stiff, but he had been doing the exercises all weekend, already too excited by the prospect of drawing again. It wasn’t really that obvious before, but he missed it a lot, tattooing and simply drawing. His tablet had been gathering dust for over a month now and it pained him to see it so abandoned.

Despite being told not to try anything strenuous yet, but he couldn’t help it, he had tried drawing as soon as he came home after his appointment on Friday. The result had been terrifying and extremely disappointing, looking like something a child would draw on a wall with a broken crayon. Or possibly worse, but he tried not to be too critical of his own work while he was still recovering.

Shaking his head to clear it of the impending pity party, he went to the bathroom for a quick shower, before returning to his room. Marco slid into a pair of jeans and pulled a black shirt out of the dresser before making his way out into the hall. He pulled the shirt over his head, thrilled by the ease with which his arm slid through the sleeve now, as he walked down the hall. The sounds were getting louder and, he could tell now, coming from the kitchen. Again. Only, this time he found Izo standing on a chair as he rummaged through the contents of the top shelf of one of the cabinets.

“You better not have gotten rid of that set of tea cups I gave you,” he said without turning around as soon as Marco walked into the room. Before Marco could even remember which cups he was talking about, Izo exclaimed in triumph. “Ah, found them!”

“Good morning to you, too,” Marco said with a raised eyebrow, watching intently as Izo climbed down from the chair in what seemed to be the world’s tightest jeans. Izo set two cups on the counter before smoothing down his sweater. He turned just enough to level Marco with an unamused look on his face before turning his attention back to the cups, rinsing and drying them before pouring them some tea.

“So, what are you doing here this fine morning?” Marco asked, even though he could figure Izo was there to take over for Thatch with the driving duty. Well, come to think of it, Izo was the one to drive him more often that Thatch, considering Thatch had a job with normal work hours.

“I’m taking you to therapy, of course.” Izo’s voice was no-nonsense and probably more stern than Pops had ever sounded. Not that he needed to be stern with Izo around to keep everyone on their best behavior, anyway. “And then we’re going to the parlor for a bit.” Even if he sounded completely casual, Marco simply knew there were ulterior motives swimming around in Izo’s head. Or maybe he was just being paranoid. Well, then again, it was Wednesday and Marco hadn’t been in since Thursday before his cast was taken off, he was more than thrilled to say yes, even if, strictly speaking, Izo hadn’t asked.

“Okay,” he replied and watched with amusement how Izo eyed him suspiciously as he got up from his chair, disappearing out of view for a moment as he grabbed a pair of socks from the dresser and slid them on. Making sure to fold the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows so part of his tattoo was visible, Marco returned to the kitchen and tried not to reveal how much he hoped he’d affect Ace with showing off his ink for the first time since he unintentionally stripped before him. Maybe not all was lost, Marco thought, as he was struck by optimism.

\--0--

There were a lot of things Ace could live through with no strain on his sanity. He woke up every morning with a furry butt on his pillow, for example. He had to drive Luffy to the hospital whenever he got into a stupid fight or injured himself in a way no one thought was possible. Hell, he even made it through five excruciating weeks alongside the very embodiment of temptation and sexual tension itself. All that and he couldn’t handle it when Marco came into the parlor a bit after lunch with his tattoo visible on his forearms. Not to mention how having his sleeves pushed up over his elbows was hot by default, especially if there were tattoos involved.

So, when Marco strolled into the parlor as if he owned the place, which okay, he did, Ace could almost feel his jaw dropping to the immaculately clean floor. He hadn’t seen Marco for almost a week and, as it turns out, that was enough time for a considerable backlog of sexual frustration. Even worse, he hadn’t noticed it until Marco showed up in all his glory without that damned cast, which, honestly, only made it worse. Marco was so close and no longer injured, yet so far at the same time.

Marco was there, at long last, and gone again so fast, Ace barely had time to realize what was going on. On one hand, he got to see Marco after what felt like too long, but on the other, they barely even spoke. Definitely not one of his brightest moments, really, considering he didn’t even collect his thoughts for long enough to ask Marco on a proper date. The blame for that was entirely on him. Being a ‘moody shit’, as Usopp so eloquently put it, for the rest of the week was therefore completely justifiable, of course, considering Marco didn’t come back on Thursday nor Friday. The minimal contact between them was slowly wearing him down.

His absence did nothing to stop some of the most vivid daydreaming Ace ever experienced, though. He may have been slightly concerned for his mental health by the time Friday afternoon rolled around, what with all the zoning out and seeing inappropriate things no matter what he was doing. Robin noticed, of course, and at this point, Ace couldn’t really say he cared much. It was his last day at the parlor and there was no need to cower in shame whenever Robin looked at him, even if he was sad his time there was over. These six weeks went by far too fast for his liking and before he knew it, Robin was telling him he could leave early since it was his last day.

That, in itself, was bittersweet. Sure, it brought him closer to having his parlor with Sabo back, but he’d gotten used to working with Marco, Robin and Usopp. The atmosphere there was relaxed, but everything was organized and well put together. Ace had come to genuinely enjoy coming to work every morning, even if there was more flirting compressed into five weeks than Ace had experienced in his entire life, probably.

Still, with the appointment file empty and both Robin and Usopp with nothing to do, there was no point in him staying until closing. With some reluctance, Ace hugged both of his now former colleagues and, with a promise they’d come to the re-opening of his parlor, he was on his way through the door and down the street. He couldn’t fight the surge of disappointment making its way through his chest at the fact Marco hadn’t been there. Sure, he could recognize that he was being a tad overly dramatic considering he could stop by the parlor at any time to ask Marco out, but, well, if Marco had wanted that, he’d have been there for Ace’s last shift.

With a sigh, Ace let his head drop, his eyes never straying from the dirty pavement as he walked away from the parlor, doubtful that he’d ever go back there again. Ace did nothing to look up as he walked, only mindful of his surroundings enough to avoid bumping into anyone walking past.

\--0--

Funny how Marco disappeared from his mind as soon as Sabo woke him, none too gently, the next morning. While he might not have been all too happy about being woken up, Ace still held immense joy for the fact they started the real work on their own parlor that day. The space was renovated by professionals, of course, but the two of them barely had enough money for those costs and the idea of doing the last bits of work themselves seemed like a good one.

The idea of Luffy coming with them, however, wasn’t exactly that smart. Ace couldn’t deny that he and Sabo loved their little brother, how could they not, after all, but the sad truth was that Luffy is a walking disaster. Trouble found him no matter where he was or what he was doing. It was undoubtedly a noteworthy talent, though hardly one that deserved praise.  

They ate breakfast together, which was pretty painful for all parties involved, though mostly Sabo and Ace considering Luffy’s other talent of stealing any food left unsupervised. There wasn’t much of that on the table between the three of them, but accidents could still happen. As an affair in itself, breakfast was short and sweet, making Luffy overly excited about working with his brothers. Of course, they had no intention of allowing Luffy to do any serious work, but he didn’t need to know that.

Between Luffy’s and Garpie’s excitement, Ace wasn’t completely oblivious to Sabo’s inquiring gaze, one that hadn’t left his face for a while now, yet he was still too nice to breach the subject yet again. Ace knew his patience was wearing thin, though, and it was only a matter of time. Especially since Ace hadn’t stopped moping, even if he wasn’t going to admit that, ever. Grown men did not mope, okay.

The newly renovated space of their parlor seemed empty and depressing as they entered, the walls bare and painted a sterile white, all the furniture stacked in the middle of the large room and covered with tarps to keep the dust from settling. Buckets of paint were left on the dusty, paint splattered floor. The place looked okay, but it was clear whoever was working on it hadn’t bothered with cleaning which was another thing for their list of chores.

Optimistically, Ace thought they’d make it for their planned opening in two weeks if they worked hard and maybe asked for some help with the tiles. Well, painting first and then he’d give Zoro a call or something.

“Okay,” he said and both Sabo and Luffy turned to him, “we’re starting by painting the walls. Luffy, you’re gonna sweep up while Sabo and I start.” That seemed easy enough and with Luffy having the attention span of a goldfish, they’d give him something else to do while they finished the base coat of paint. To Ace’s delight, they managed to agree on orange this time, but Sabo gave in for the simple fact that, in turn, he got to draw on one of the walls. Sure, it was totally unfair, but well, Ace’d live.

Armed with rolling brushes and paint, Ace and Sabo started on the closest wall in silence. Well, as much silence as there could be with Luffy singing the greatest hits of 80s pop while he did his own job with doubtful efficiency.

The repetitive motions of rolling the brush against the wall before dipping it into the paint then repeating what he had been doing was surprisingly relaxing, yet it hardly qualified as a task that required a lot of brain power. Of course that led Ace’s thoughts straight back to Marco. Back to the disappointment of not seeing him or asking him out or doing something to show his interest hadn’t been just a game they played. In short, he fucked up.

“So, did you invite Marco to the opening?” Sabo’s voice cut through the weight of Ace’s thoughts.

“Why would I…” Ace trailed off and froze because, honestly, he didn’t even think of that. Funny (more like really really sad) considering he invited both Robin and Usopp yet forgot to ask them to extend the invitation to Marco as well. It didn’t help that Sabo was giving him a look, one that said as much about the subject, though the main message remaining how big of an idiot Ace was. He really was, in this case, and he readily accepted that, as sad as it was. He had been acting like a dumbass since he met Marco in the first place, though, so why change that now.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Sabo’s voice drew his attention once again. “Why not?”

Now, Ace couldn’t exactly answer that question, could he? Other than admitting he was a moron, which he wasn’t ready to do when it came to his brothers, even if Luffy wasn’t really paying attention to them.

“I didn’t think to do it?” he said skeptically and chuckled nervously at the pointed look Sabo gave him. Of course, Ace wasn’t surprised that Sabo knew him this well, with being brothers and all, but it was still so embarrassing that there were no illusions about his own shortcomings with things that could possibly mean a lot in the long run. Marco was, or at least could have been, very important, Ace had no doubt about that.

Sabo returned to work, turning away from Ace again and Ace followed his example, even if his mind strayed again. This time, he focused on what to do and how to do it, the most simple solution seeming as the best one. Namely, to just walk back to the parlor and ask Marco to come. It seemed like he’d burst from the barely contained excitement because he had to wait until Monday, at least, considering the parlor wasn’t open during the weekend. If he could, Ace would have gone immediately. Or, maybe, he could have called, but he didn’t exactly have a number either.

In hindsight, Ace was aware he should have acted weeks ago. If not right away, he could have done something after Sabo asked the first time, or in the club when they had flirted shamelessly. His grip loosened and Ace almost smacked himself in the face with a brush covered in paint. He still had his last question left! He had almost forgotten about the little game they played, the one with the stupid questions, the one where he managed to keep his cool and actually appear suave in front of Marco.

Apparently, his sudden manic grin was enough to alert Sabo and make him stop what he had been doing.

“Ace, you okay?” Sabo’s question made Luffy stop as well, concern evident even without Ace having to turn and look at him. Ace nodded in reply, grin stretched wider as he found himself another totally cheesy pick up line that would hopefully work on Marco.

“You sure?” Sabo was incessant in his concern, despite Ace grinning, maybe a bit too brightly, and not showing any kind of distress.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Ace replied, trying as hard as he could to school his expression to give himself a slightly less deranged look before going back to work, prompting Sabo and Luffy to continue as well. Luffy’s attention shifted away from them once again while Sabo remained silent, almost suspiciously so, while they worked. Luffy’s singing resumed, as horrible as it was, shattering the silence around them.

Sabo let that continue for a few minutes, before speaking again. “There’s a key with a bird key chain hanging by the door at home,” he said, his eyes never leaving the wall before him. “Whose is it?”

Once again, Sabo’s question was the right one and Ace doubted he even knew what he did. Seriously, Ace was considering himself a moron by now because only a moron would forget to ask Marco to the opening and the fact he still had the key to the parlor in his possession. It’d been weeks since they let him lock up and he never returned the keys which was a huge oversight on his part. Robin’s as well, though, which was odd to Ace. After all, Robin didn’t forget or overlook anything.

Ace shook his head, almost laughing at himself; everyone was suspicious to him, suddenly, and he didn’t usually consider himself a paranoid person. Still, he let go of that thought and focused on the newly found excuse to visit Marco, if the invitation to the opening wasn’t excuse enough. Slowly, Ace returned to work with renewed vigor while completely ignoring Sabo’s question because he had plans to come up with, plans that involved no one but him and Marco. After all, there were already too many brothers getting involved and he didn’t need their meddling anymore. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about the tattooing process in this chapter: while the process itself is correct, it's also skipping over some parts of it because they aren't important for the story itself. Of course, getting tattooed in a bedroom is not advised and you should always go to a professional that works in a sterile space.

Come Monday, Ace was feeling more and more like a raw bundle of nerves. It didn’t escape his notice that he was being ridiculous, honestly, after all those weeks of flirting and thinly veiled innuendos, but he really couldn’t help it. He was giddy about the fact that he may or may not get a chance to resolve the downright criminal amount of sexual tension that had built up between him and Marco. The only thing left to worry about was whether or not Marco felt the same. Even if Ace was sure, in fact, that Marco would not turn him down, he was momentarily stuck in a limbo of what-ifs.

What if Marco said no? What if he hallucinated all the flirting? Well, okay, he doubted it was that bad. In fact, he knew it wasn’t that bad, but worrying about rejection was better than worrying about Marco accepting his offer to go on a date. Because, what if Marco said yes? What if Marco said yes and Ace had no idea what to do about it? What if he messed everything up?

With a groan, Ace reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the keys before stepping closer to the parlor door. Everything would be okay, Ace told himself over and over again because everything would really be great and he’d have a boyfriend and there would be tattoos and good times and all the things people with boyfriends do. This time, Ace snorted in amusement at his own thoughts, but as the anxiety ebbed, he opened the parlor door and walked into the space he came to love immensely in such a short time.

“Ace!” Usopp’s shout brought a grin to his face. “Miss us already?” he asked and Ace had to admit that he did, indeed, miss them. Working there had been fun and both Usopp and Robin were great, not to mention Marco, whom he clearly liked plenty.

“Of course I did,” he said with an easy smile, his fingers fiddling with the keys in his pocket. “Is Marco here? I came by to return the keys ‘cause I may have forgotten about them,” he added with a sheepish smile.

Usopp’s mouth opened as he was about to reply, but Robin’s voice cut him off. “Marco’s not here,” she said, her head peeking out of the room she usually occupied when she worked.

Disappointment already swelled in his chest because he never seemed to catch a break when it came to Marco.

“But you could take those to his place, he should be at home the entire afternoon.”

“He can just leave them…” Usopp started, but Robin cut him off again.

“They’re Marco’s spare keys. Usopp can give you the address.” The look she was giving Usopp was downright scary and Ace couldn’t find it in himself to argue with her. Neither could Usopp, apparently, as he immediately shut up and scrambled to write the address down on one of his neon yellow post-its. Robin only smiled her know-it-all smile, looking from one to the other before nodding and disappearing back into her room. Ace was too scared to ask and Usopp didn’t really seem too keen to say anything on the matter, focusing on writing out the address and handing it to Ace.

“You gonna invite Marco to the opening of your place?” Usopp asked as Ace took the piece of paper with fingers far more gentle than necessary for something so silly.

“Yeah, that’s why I stopped by, but  I can’t seem to catch him.”

“Ah, well, maybe it’s not meant to be,” Usopp added dramatically, a hand over his heart, misty eyes and all that in usual Usopp fashion. “Go now, before he disappears again.” Usopp was joking, of course, since he wasn’t as perceptive as Robin, but Ace couldn’t help but take his words to heart and say his goodbye as quickly as possible before slipping out of the parlor.

Once again, he was nervous, yet very excited at the same time. He was kind of hoping he’d have the whole ordeal over and done with by the time he left the parlor, but he only found himself back to square one. Well, almost; he got through the nervousness once so it should be okay again, though, if Marco wasn’t at home, Ace didn’t know how he’d cope with going through all this once again. Simple human interaction had never been so nerve wracking to him, but instead of fretting over it, Ace decided it was simply because Marco meant something to him.

Scanning over the address on the paper, Ace turned in the right direction and started walking. He was a bit proud that, while excitement trumped over nervousness, he didn’t actually run the short distance to his destination. The butterflies in his stomach were almost enough to spur him into action, but he kept his pace steady and strolled in the warm sunlight. Wouldn’t want to seem too eager, would he.

Nervously, Ace checked the address a few times, just to make sure he got it right, before continuing on his way. It was ridiculous, really, even to himself, the way his mood and actions switched from excited to nervous in a heartbeat. That seemed to happen so often during his short walk, he almost passed by the apartment building in question without really noticing it. He found himself staring at the glass door, debating what to say and how to do this thing when he noted an old lady coming towards the door from the inside. He hurried, hoping she’d let him in without having to buzz Marco and risk not even seeing him in case Marco decided to decline his invitation.

Still, as he actually found himself inside the building, Ace was momentarily dumbstruck with no clue about what to do next. Thankfully, Usopp wrote down the floor as well so Ace knew where to go, but that didn’t mean he could make himself go any faster. Sure, he could have taken the elevator, but that option seemed to be too fast to his liking. After all, walking up three flights of stairs offered some extra time to think about what he wanted to say. Not that it would help much, he thought, given that he had been stressing about this all weekend and he was still no closer to a plan than he had been on Saturday.

At this point, he could safely say he was hoping for an adrenaline boost under pressure and something magically popping into his head. While it was highly unlikely, one could still hope. Ace was dragging his feet for the last few steps until he decided, finally, that it was enough. He wasn’t a coward and nothing bad could come of this, he was sure. So with a deep breath, he stepped into the bright hallway and glanced around in search for Marco’s last name on the doors around him. It wasn’t that hard to spot and, with a new determination, Ace approached the door in a few short strides.

He may have knocked a bit too forcefully, due to the focused determination, but he didn’t let himself dwell on it too much. Leaning against the doorframe, Ace waited for Marco to answer the door, the intense feeling of boldness still heavy in his chest. A lingering hope that Marco would answer the door in his underwear also made an appearance, but that was neither here nor there, though thinking about that did manage to distract him for long enough.

The door opened and revealed a surprised, but not nearly naked enough, Marco. He’d be disappointed, but well, he really wasn’t. There was still some blue ink peeking out from under his sleeves and the unbuttoned collar of his shirt which was mesmerizing enough.

“Hi,” Ace said, grinning as Marco stared at him, turning on his charm to the maximum. Seeing Marco after days filled with nothing but sexual frustration made it a bit difficult for him to deal with the onslaught of said frustration and newly formed images, but he tried his best to suppress those for a bit.

“Hi.” Marco shook off his surprise enough to smile. “I honestly didn’t expect you at my door,” he said, his smile widening into a grin enough to make Ace’s butterflies to go on a rampage.

“I went by the parlor to give back the keys,” Ace started, fishing out the keys from his pocket all smooth and suave as if he hadn’t been fiddling with them since he left his apartment earlier, “but you weren’t there so Robin sent me here.” This prompted a look of confusion on Marco’s face, but it merely flickered for a moment before he rolled his eyes.

“I bet she did,” he mumbled and Ace barely caught it, but didn’t have time to voice his confusion as Marco snatched the keys from his hand. “Would you like to come in?” Marco asked, the smile back in place. It seemed sincere enough to Ace, but he wasn’t sure what to make of Marco’s mumbled comment, whether he didn’t believe Ace or if he thought Robin was playing them both. Whichever it was, he couldn’t dwell on it, not until he did what he came there to do.

“That’s okay,” he shook his head, his shoulder still leaning against the doorframe, “I just wanted to give you the keys and invite you to the opening of our parlor in two weeks.” There, he did it, he managed to say the first thing he wanted and the world didn’t end. Things were out of his hands now and it was all on Marco. Well, the invitation wasn’t exactly the important part, but Marco’s answer would tell him enough about his second question. Damn, just staring at Marco was doing all kinds of funny stuff to his frustration laden mind and, honestly, Ace was damn proud of himself for keeping his cool enough to form coherent sentences.

“I’d love to,” Marco said with a grin and that was it, Ace was now sure Marco wanted to see him again. It was that simple, one short sentence was enough to drain all the trepidation out of him. On a whim, and entirely too mesmerized by the glint in Marco’s eyes, Ace decided on a different approach on what to ask next.

“You know, I still have that one question left,” Ace said with a sly grin, lowering his head just enough so he could look at Marco through his lashes, something he was told worked wonders for seducing people. If the widening of Marco’s pupils was anything to go by, Ace would say he did good with that. With obvious fascination, Ace observed as Marco gulped, before stuttering: “Is… is that so?”

“Mhmm…” he hummed in reply, replacing the grin with a smile as he glanced down for a moment, letting his tongue slip out and slide over his lower lip. “I’d like to ask it now, if that’s okay with you.” That was awfully smooth of him, Ace thought, and he was so proud of how alluring he was sounding despite the nerves that threatened to throw him into the jaws of madness if he didn’t get the question out soon.

Ace glanced up at Marco again, just in time to see him nod curtly; it was extremely gratifying and really reassuring that Marco reacted this way, making it oh so easy for Ace. Forgetting about the date and asking Marco out, Ace let the built-up of tension and frustration and damn horniness guide the words that were suddenly flowing out of his mouth.

“Would you like to see my tattoo?”

The silence was deafening for a moment, nothing but the question ringing between them because it wasn’t really anything like what either of them expected. Still, Ace stood by it, knowing full well Marco felt about tattoos the same way he himself did. For a brief moment, Ace remembered how he had never done anything to dispel the illusion Marco was under that Ace had a tattoo on his dick. Well, apparently Ace could work well under pressure because this certainly couldn’t end badly.

“Hell yes.” Marco snapped out of his stunned state for long enough to reply before grabbing the front of Ace’s shirt and dragging him forward. Even if he had time to protest, Ace wouldn’t as his lips finally met Marco’s after what felt like an eternity of shameless flirting. “Would you like to show me now?” Marco asked as he broke the rather tame kiss, but it seemed like a rhetorical question considering he was pulling Ace through the door and into the apartment while he spoke.

Ace nodded with far more enthusiasm than needed while his hands already reached out for the back of Marco’s neck, pulling him closer once again as the door slammed shut behind him. His lips moved frantically against Marco’s, parting as soon as Marco’s tongue made an attempt at reaching Ace’s own.

Marco never stopped moving, walking backwards as he dragged Ace along through the apartment. It was all frantic movements, rushed steps and bumping into furniture and walls alike, but they were still undeterred in the advance towards, what Ace hoped, was the bedroom. Any soft surface would do, really, as far as he was concerned at the moment. Still, even as they moved, he couldn’t keep his hands off of Marco, doing his best to unbutton Marco’s shirt and reveal the masterpiece underneath. He was fairly successful, given the fact he had yet to detach his mouth from Marco’s and he was working with the buttons without seeing them. Marco was quick to pull on the hem of Ace’s shirt and slide the shirt off of Ace’s torso as soon as his arms were in the air, letting go of Marco’s buttons just long enough to do so. Breaking the kiss to breathe was also a necessary course of action at this point, so it was a win-win thing going on.

Marco seemed almost disappointed as he stopped for a moment to glance over Ace’s torso, finding only freckles and no ink, but his eyes seemed to glaze over as soon as they settled on the sliver of black ink peeking out of the side of Ace’s pants. It only made Ace grin as wide as he could, reaching out to unbutton the last few buttons, snapping Marco out of his reverie. He couldn’t grab Ace’s pants fast enough, but Ace batted his hands away with the grin still safely in place as he returned to his initial task of ridding Marco of his shirt.

It finally fell to the floor with a soft rustle, revealing the entire expanse of Marco’s ink covered skin and Ace itched to touch every inch of it, despite knowing that there was no difference in texture between the inked skin and the parts that stood in an unmarred contrast. He contained that urge, though, pushing Marco towards the open door just a short distance behind him. The fact Marco went without a complaint was very arousing and Ace led him down the rest of the hall, careful not to let Marco bump into anything on the way. Well, as careful as he could be while staring into Marco’s eyes without looking away for a moment.

As soon as they walked through the door, Ace found their positions reversed and he was pressed against the wall with a hand on his chest. Marco grinned in what seemed to be triumph before he dove in for another kiss, one Ace had no qualms returning, as Marco’s hands returned to the waistline of his pants. Ace barely felt the button pop and the zipper being undone, but he knew it had happened as Marco managed to grin into the kiss as his hands slid down Ace’s sides.

The touch was slow and gentle, yet it was enough to push Ace’s pants down until they pooled around his ankles. For a moment, Marco kept the pace slow, without any of the urgency that brought them through the apartment in the first place, and simply kept sliding his lips against Ace’s own. Soon enough, though, he pulled away, eyes half lidded, but still staring straight into Ace’s, even as he took several small steps backwards towards the bed. Only when he was right in the middle, between Ace and the bed, did his gaze stray from Ace’s eyes and slowly made its way down his freckled chest, the straining red boxer briefs before settling on his thigh.

Ace noticed immediately, zoning in on the slight catch in Marco’s breath and the widening of his eyes. He didn’t even have to look down, knowing exactly how amazing his ink was. His entire right thigh was riddled with black lines, rising over his hip, winding around his leg, curling into patterns so intricate and detailed, it was impossible to discern where one line ended and another started. It was clear when Marco’s gaze ventured lower, stopping on the three inch thick strip of pure black ink that encircled Ace’s leg just over his knee, fading down into a mass of dots that all but disappeared over his knee cap, all the way around to the hollow of his knee.

The entire thing was almost nonsensical, but still infinitely beautiful and, in Ace’s humble opinion, definitely one of Sabo’s best works. By the look on Marco’s face, it was clear he shared the sentiment. Ace stayed still with a barely suppressed smirk on his face, eyes boring into Marco as he approached once more. His hand stretched out, fingers brushing against Ace’s skin as soon as they were close enough while Marco drew closer still.

Ace finally gave into his own desire to drag his hands over whatever inked surface he could reach first, as long as it was on Marco’s body, pulling him close for another kiss while his hands explored. Watching Marco’s muscles move was entirely different from touching them and Ace decided he liked touching better. Not that it was even up for debate, anyway.

Marco kissed him with renewed urgency, as if he couldn’t wait any longer, and Ace could definitely get behind that. He was pressed into the wall harder as Marco leaned into him, connecting them almost from head to toe. It was enough to make Ace gasp at the novelty of letting his skin slide against Marco’s, their bare chests already breaking out with a sheen of sweat from being so close and Ace had no intention of separating them.

Nails digging into Marco’s back, Ace tried pulling him closer, as if that were possible, while he matched the swift movements of Marco’s mouth. Marco’s hands were now holding Ace’s hips in a tight grip, almost enough to bruise, Ace thought, and it didn’t exactly bother him that much at the moment.

In a flash, though, Marco broke away, keeping Ace pressed against the wall as he tried to follow. There was something wicked in the way Marco smiled, a promise of making up for weeks upon weeks of frustration and Ace found himself swallowing hard, but containing his excitement and staying still as Marco hooked his fingers into the waistband of Ace’s underwear. If he had to describe the grin that broke out on Marco’s face, Ace would say it looked wolfish, hungry even, as his gaze raked over Ace’s naked body. Keeping still and not shivering under the scrutiny of Marco’s gaze was borderline maddening, but Ace managed somehow, keeping his cool for, what he felt, was too long.

A moan escaped his lips as soon as Marco’s mouth connected with his jaw, the touch of lips feather light as it slid over his skin. Marco didn’t stop at his jaw, moving lower and making Ace tilt his head back until it settled against the wall with a soft thud as Marco licked down his neck. Trying to keep himself grounded, Ace let his hands grip at Marco’s shoulders, almost as if he were holding on for dear life. Certainly felt that way as Marco’s mouth travelled lower, licking over sweat slicked skin, lips closing over Ace’s nipple so suddenly, he couldn’t hold back another moan. Even though Ace couldn’t see his face, he knew Marco was overly pleased with himself for that victory.

Still, he didn’t stop there and Ace almost lost it as Marco dropped to his knees, lips never leaving Ace’s skin, only moving lower still. Ace couldn’t help but grip Marco tighter, even more so when Marco’s own hands started moving, stroking along Ace’s hips. For a moment, Ace was sure Marco would ignore the erection, quite literally, staring him in the face in an attempt to tease, but as Marco licked a stripe along the length of it, Ace knew they were far past the point of prolonging this.

Fingers stroked down Ace’s thighs with great care as Marco glanced up through his lashes, catching Ace’s eye as his mouth closed around the head of Ace’s cock. It felt like too much and not enough, all at the same time, too hot and all too real, nothing like whatever Ace could have imagined. He shuddered, barely keeping his eyes open, but managed somehow because losing sight of Marco on his knees before him was not an option. Immediately, he could tell this wouldn’t last long, it was too overwhelming after a dry spell that lasted way too long. Thinking about doing this again, though, did nothing to help him last any longer; just as looking at Marco, mouth stretched around his cock, helped even less. Even if he wasn’t actually feeling said mouth, just the sight would have been enough to do him in, really.

Marco’s tongue swirled around the tip of Ace’s cock, the sensation making Ace’s knees go weak, but he willed himself to stand. His hands stroked along Marco’s shoulders, up his neck, until his fingers lay buried in blond hair, pulling hard enough to tilt his head, but not enough to hurt. Marco hummed, the vibrations leaving his mouth and making Ace jolt, his breath leaving him in a shuddering mess. Still, he forced himself to keep watching, even if it might be the end of him. Or, at least, that’s what it felt like to him.

With one hand still stroking his thigh, Ace couldn’t help but notice the absence of the other one from his skin. If he could have given some thought on the matter, he would have, but trying not to come right away like a horny teenager took too much out of him. He felt those deft, gentle fingers trail over the black thick blackness above his knee for a moment before moving lower again. It wasn’t exactly easy to focus on such an innocent gesture while Marco did his best to suck the life out of Ace through a raging hard-on, but he felt it anyway.

Until he didn’t anymore. Finally breaking eye contact, Ace glanced away to see Marco’s free hand trailing towards his own crotch. Hearing, rather than seeing, the zipper being undone was enough to almost shortcircuit his brain. Marco straightened a bit, straining to slide his pants and boxers out of the way. A loud moan vibrating around his cock was enough to tell Ace that Marco had a hand on his own erection, even if he didn’t see it for himself.

Ace could, however, see Marco’s arm move in time with his mouth, head bobbing as he stroked himself, muffled moans leaving him only to tease Ace further. Not that it was strictly necessary, though, considering he was barely holding on, the knowledge that Marco couldn’t stand not being touched almost too much to handle. Ace himself was shaking at this point, fingers tightening in Marco’s hair, but Marco did nothing more than moan, closing his eyes as he sped up.

At any other time, Ace would have thought whimpering was very embarrassing, but there was no other word to describe the sound that tore out of his mouth when Marco moaned and shuddered at his own release. There was no way Ace could hold out any longer, not after that and after feeling Marco shaking in front of him.

“M-Marco…” Ace stuttered, with good reason, in an attempt to warn Marco, but the mouth engulfing him never stopped or moved away. He was looking up again, entirely too smug for the position he was in and the entirely wrecked appearance, but it didn’t matter. With his eyes closed and a scream on his lips, Ace felt his release and Marco swallowing around him, his hand still stroking Ace’s thigh.

As soon as Marco pulled away, Ace’s knees gave out and he let himself slide down the wall with enough presence of mind to let his legs spread so he could straddle Marco as he sat back. Letting his hands fall from Marco’s hair, Ace’s arms encircled Marco’s neck and he leaned in for another kiss. With the impatience drained out of them both, Ace kissed slower, savoring each second.

“I hope you have another round in you,” Marco said once he leaned back, looking Ace over as best as he could, another one of his charming grins stretching his lips. Ace was instantly relieved, knowing Marco wanted more, but he still had to ask.

“I hope you have a date in you,” Ace countered and watched as Marco’s alluring grin turned into something softer.

“Just one?”

“I could ask the same,” Ace told him with a raised eyebrow because, honestly, if the second round is anything like the first one, he wouldn’t mind repeating it for much longer. Marco just chuckled, pulling Ace closer, hands coming under his ass and before he knew it, Ace found himself being lifted, clinging to Marco’s neck for support.

“Yes, I would like to go on a date,” Marco whispered into his ear. “Or ten.”

In a couple of short strides, Marco made it to the bed, depositing Ace on it before he untangled Ace’s pants and underwear from where they were dangling from his leg. Next, he let his own soiled clothes fall to the ground before joining Ace on the bed. “Maybe more,” Marco added helpfully, smiling down at Ace before kissing him yet again.

“I think I can live with that,” Ace told him, being the one that broke the kiss this time, pulling Marco closer. He wasn’t exactly expecting cuddling, but Ace didn’t really find it to be a cause for complaints, really. They stayed like that for a while and Ace felt himself dozing off, but had no intention of moving whatsoever.

He must have fallen asleep completely at some point because he opened his eyes to a dim bedroom and Marco waking up next to him. Shaking off sleep wasn’t extremely difficult as Marco shifted on the bed, throwing one of his legs over Ace before straddling him. Feeling Marco’s already hard cock rub against Ace’s own was enough to make him grin. This time, they didn’t need to hurry, Ace thought. They could take their time, enjoy this, even if the prospect of repeating it over and over again wasn’t even in question anymore.

Ace pushed off the bed, rolling them over until Marco lay under him with an adorably confused expression on his face. It was Ace’s time to be smug, it seemed, and he wasn’t going to let Marco mess with him this time. Marco, however, seemed to have other plans, trying his best to roll them over again, so he could be on top, but Ace wouldn’t have that.

With a menacing grin, Ace decided to play dirty and did his best to subdue Marco by tickling him. It was working, for all intents and purposes, maybe a bit too well and Ace made sure to file that for future uses. Marco was laughing loudly, thrashing underneath him, but did nothing to ask Ace to stop. Still, a thud from the hallway managed to sound through the room louder than Marco’s laughter, startling them both until Ace felt Marco jump in an attempt to cover his obvious nakedness. Then the world seemed to tilted for Ace as he fell off the bed with Marco’s weight falling on top of him. Pain registered in his hand, shooting through his wrist and up his arm, only intensifying as seconds passed.

“Fuuuuuck…” The curse left him with a whine and a grimace, Marco scrambling to stand up with worry painted on his face as clear as day.

“Izo?” They heard from the door and Marco stood finally, clearing Ace’s view and making it possible for him to see Thatch in the doorway with a phone to his ear, but he couldn’t bring himself to care with the possibility of a broken wrist looming over him. “You’re not gonna believe what I just walked into.”

\--0--

“You already said yes, it’s too late to back out now,” Ace teased when he saw the reluctance on Marco’s face. “Especially since I let you do mine first.” Despite the words sounding almost like a threat, Ace was grinning brighter than ever.

Marco chuckled as he took off his shirt, finally matching Ace’s shirtless state. There was no way he’d back out of this, not now, not ever. It may only have been five short years since they had met, but Marco was sure this was it since Ace knocked on his door for the first time.

“I’m not backing out,” he assured Ace, even though they both already knew it, “but your painful howling did almost make me change my mind about inking my sternum. Whose idea was it, anyway?” he asked, fully prepared for a swat to his chest because, after all, it was his idea.

“Yours, you dumbass,” Ace replied, without hitting him, but the level of snark in his voice made up for it. “Because someone had to cover his back, shoulders and arms in ink.” It was true, though. The gesture they agreed on felt more intimate if they got their tattoos on the same spot and with Marco’s fire covering almost all of his upper body while Ace’s ink took over his legs, leaving almost no empty spot in common.

“And I went along with it cause you said ‘yes’,” Ace added helpfully and, at this point, Marco really couldn’t find it in himself to even joke about changing his mind just like Ace couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “So suck it up and sit with your back against the headboard.”

“Yes, sir!” Marco smirked at the glare directed his way, but complied with Ace’s orders anyway after propping a pillow behind his back. Without a word, he crossed his arms, leaned back and watched as Ace pulled on a pair of black latex gloves before setting a fresh needle into his gun. Everything else was already set up on the nightstand from where Marco had used the supplies on Ace. Ace left the room briefly to replace the ink, though, before he was back.

Marco remained quiet as Ace finally climbed onto the bed and straddled his hips with surprising grace considering he held his tattoo gun in one hand and, technically, wasn’t supposed to touch anything. Carefully, he set the gun to the side, on the thoroughly cleaned and now way too sterile nightstand.

“Okay, you ready?”

Marco nodded in reply, eyes meeting Ace’s as they both smiled. It was a bit surreal, that they were doing this, though he could hardly say using tattoos instead of rings for their vows was the surprising part. He let his hands rest on top of Ace’s thighs, never letting the smile drop as he continued watching Ace’s movements. The cold touch of alcohol on his sternum startled him out of the dopey daze he was in, but Ace’s undivided attention never strayed from what he was doing. As professional as ever, Ace went through the first part of cleaning his skin with swift ease before proceeding with the final steps before he could start with the actual inking.

His smile widened as his gaze dropped down to Ace’s foil covered sternum, hiding the simple design Marco himself had done not even an hour ago. At the moment, he couldn’t really remember whose idea the design was initially, but Marco was sure it had been a great choice. After all, he liked what the eternal knot stood for and how it applied to them.

There was barely a shudder when the needle touched his skin for the first time and he may have been used to the sensation, but working over a bone hurt either way. Marco’s grip on Ace’s thighs tightened, but Ace said nothing as he continued inking over the bluish lines left by the transfer paper on Marco’s skin.

Marco could safely say the pain was worth it before Ace stopped and leaned closer to place a swift, chaste kiss to Marco’s lips before leaning over to dip the tip of the needle into the ink. A few seconds more and the needle was back, gliding over skin with a sensation all too familiar. The buzzing of the gun and the firmness of Ace’s thighs under his hands were soothing to Marco at the moment, grounding him through the pain. It wasn’t that bad, overall, but this one tattoo meant so much more than the others he had on his skin.

“Doing okay?” Ace asked before stealing another kiss, the needle buzzing in the cup of ink again. Marco nodded in reply and smiled what was probably a very dopey smile.

“Very much so,” he added, leaning up and pressing his lips to Ace’s as Ace squirmed in his lap. “The view isn’t half bad from here either.” Instead of ogling Ace shamelessly, though, Marco slid his hands up Ace’s thighs, slipping them back and into the waistband of Ace’s pants. Just to give him a squeeze, of course, nothing too explicit considering they still weren’t done. The desire to place a kiss on the foil covering Ace’s new tattoo was intense, but that would have to wait until it was healed. Thinking about that was thrilling, really, even if his thoughts were interrupted by the needle touching his skin again.

“We’re almost done,” Ace informed him without looking away from what he was doing. Marco just smiled, finding he had been doing that more often than was strictly necessary, but then again, why wouldn’t he? He was happy, had been for years now, and there was no reason to think that would change anytime soon.

Lost in his, once again, dopey thoughts, Marco hadn’t realized Ace was finished minutes later, not until the gun was safely on the nightstand and Ace was disinfecting his new tattoo before covering it. The action was followed by another soft peck to his lips and Marco grinned as Ace pulled away, staring into his eyes.

“We’re officially married now, aren’t we?” Marco asked and, even though they weren’t officially married, it was enough for him. 


End file.
